This schematic cut-away view of the components of Jupiter's ring system shows the geometry of the rings in relation to Jupiter and to the small inner satellites, which are the source of the dust which forms the rings.
Click on image for full size
Image courtesy of NASA/JPL.
Galileo Discovers Origin of Jupiter's Rings
News story originally written on September 21, 1998
Scientists discovered how
Jupiter's rings were made. Jupiter's rings are made up of dust and other small particles. This dust and other space junk was thrown off of the
small moons surrounding Jupiter when
these moons were struck by comets or asteroids.
You can look at the picture to the left to see what Jupiter's rings look like. Can you redraw the picture at home?
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