50 Years Ago Planetary Science

50 years ago, an Earth-based telescope spotted Saturn’s fourth ring

Excerpt from the June 3, 1967, issue of Science News Letter

Saturn's ring system

FULL CIRCLE  Saturn’s ring system is incredibly complex, as shown in this image taken by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft in 2013.

JPL-Caltech/NASA, Space Science Institute

By Emily Conover

This article is only available to Science News subscribers.

Subscribers, enter your e-mail address to access our archives.

Not a subscriber?

Science News is a nonprofit.

Support us by subscribing now.

More Stories from Science News on Planetary Science

  1. planet Saturn
    Astronomy

    Saturn has a fuzzy core, spread over more than half the planet’s diameter

    By Ken Croswell
  2. Ingenuity helicopter on Mars
    Planetary Science

    NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter’s mission with Perseverance has been extended

    By Lisa Grossman
  3. a person in a clean suit maneuvers a gold-colored cube
    Planetary Science

    NASA’s Perseverance rover split CO2 to make breathable air on Mars

    By Lisa Grossman
  4. image of Ingenuity flight next to image of ingenuity landed
    Planetary Science

    NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter made history by flying on Mars

    By Lisa Grossman
  5. clouds of Jupiter
    Planetary Science

    How the laws of physics constrain the size of alien raindrops

    By Lisa Grossman
  6. 5 micrometeorites found in Antarctica
    Planetary Science

    Earth sweeps up 5,200 tons of extraterrestrial dust each year

    By Sid Perkins
  7. illustration of an asteroid hitting Antarctica
    Planetary Science

    A meteor may have exploded over Antarctica 430,000 years ago

    By Sid Perkins
  8. Perseverance parachuting down to Mars
    Space

    50 years ago, experiments hinted at the possibility of life on Mars

    By Carolyn Gramling

From the Nature Index

Paid Content