Saturn's distinctive rings are set to disappear within weeks, and will not return to full display until 2032
The fading is due to the optical illusion created by Saturn's tilt, which will turn the giant hoops of debris into an almost invisible line.
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The line will be so faint that it will be impossible to see from Earth, even with a telescope.
The best time to view Saturn's rings before they disappeared was late last year, when they were tilted at an angle of about 9 degrees.
This angle has now decreased to about 3.7 degrees, which means that the hoops will still be a little harder to spot.
Although it is still possible to do this, with the help of a telescope, you will only have a few weeks to do so.
By March 23, Saturn's seven rings will have disappeared from view.
Fortunately, the rings will only go away completely for a few days.
After this time, the rings will continue to become more and more visible as Saturn begins to tilt away from Earth again.
In 2032, when Saturn reaches its maximum tilt, stargazers will be able to enjoy the best view of the distinctive rings.
This will be the clearest sighting of the rings for a decade, as they disappear once every 13 to 16 years.
This temporary phenomenon, called a circular plane crossing, last occurred in 2009.
It gives stargazers a glimpse of what Saturn could look like 100 million to 300 million years from now.
Scientists believe there is a distant future where Saturn will lose its rings forever.
The rings are believed to consist of cosmic debris from comets, asteroids or shattered moons.
Gravity is expected to pull this debris into Saturn's upper atmosphere, vaporizing the distinctive rings in a process known as “ring rain.”
Everything you want to know about the planets in our solar system
Our solar system consists of nine planets, and Earth is the third closest planet to the Sun. But each planet has its own quirks, so find out more about them all…
- How old is the Earth? In addition to other facts about our planet
- How many moons does Mercury have?
- What color is the planet Venus?
- How far is Mars from Earth? And other facts about the red planet
- What is the size of Jupiter?
- How many moons does Saturn have?
- Does Uranus have rings?
- How many moons does Neptune have?
- How big is Pluto?
- How hot is the sun?
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