Saturn left with a tilt after its own moon crashed into it

With so many exciting celestial events happening each month, we almost always expect the next one to be an amazing own. However, sometimes things don’t go as planned, and the same was the case with Saturn. While observing the planet, scientists noticed something different about it. The planet was heavily tilted.

Moon crashes into Saturn

Coming in the 5th position in our solar system, Saturn is adorned with massive rings around it. However, scientists observed that the planet’s rings have been spiralling an excessive 25 degrees in its orbit around the sun. The situation concerned researchers as Saturn and its neighbour Neptune were once in perfect synch with each other while rotating.

According to The Independent, at the moment Saturn has 83 moons, but this number is the result of several moons or satellites that have gone missing in the past. These moons were responsible for managing the synchronized alignment of Saturn and Neptune. One of the satellites, named Chrysalis, was also a part of the rings of Saturn.

Misalignment of planets

Scientists believe that around 160 million years ago Chrysalis wandered too close to Saturn which in turn resulted in it stumbling out of its position from the ring. This resulted in the moon getting completely destroyed, leaving Neptune and Saturn with a broken synchronization.

It is also believed that the broken parts of Chrysalis now are a part of the rings of Saturn. The lead author, Jack Wisdom, professor of planetary sciences at MIT said:

Just like a butterfly’s chrysalis, this satellite was long dormant and suddenly became active, and the rings emerged

It’s a pretty good story, but like any other result, it will have to be examined by others… But it seems that this lost satellite was just a chrysalis, waiting to have its instability

Sources used:

The Independent, 'Saturn is ‘tilted’ after a moon smashed into it, scientists say'

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