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You are here: Home / Space / How Do Saturn’s Planetary Rings Orbit Saturn and Which Of Saturn’s Rings Revolve Around the Planet the Fastest?

How Do Saturn’s Planetary Rings Orbit Saturn and Which Of Saturn’s Rings Revolve Around the Planet the Fastest?

July 8, 2020 by Karen Hill

Saturn’s rings have circular orbits, but they revolve at various speeds.

Parts of a single ring even orbit Saturn at different rates.

For instance, the outer edge of ring E, furthest from the planet, has an orbital period of 4 hours, but the inner edge, some 180,000 miles (288,000 km closer) takes 22 hours to orbit.

The E ring has both the slowest and fastest orbits of all the rings around Saturn.

The E ring is a diffuse disk consisting mostly of ice, with silicates, carbon dioxide and ammonia, and unlike the other rings, it is composed of microscopic rather than macroscopic particles.

Related Facts

  • How Many Rings Does Saturn Have and How Many of the Planetary Rings Around Saturn Have Been Identified?
  • Which Rings Around the Planet Saturn Are the Most Prominent and What Is the Biggest Ring Around Saturn Called?
  • Which of Saturn's Planetary Rings Are Visible From Earth and Can We Always See Saturn's Rings From Earth?
  • What Are Saturn's Rings Made of and How Did the Rings Around the Planet Saturn Form?
  • How Large Are the Rings Around the Planet Saturn and How Far From the Surface of Saturn Do the Rings Extend?
  • Do All the Moons That Orbit Jupiter Revolve around the Planet Jupiter Together?

Filed Under: Space

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

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