This Amazing View Of Saturn Is Impossible

It's a popular trope in Science Fiction, and indeed in scientific visualization, a stunning view of Saturn and its rings viewed while standing on one of Saturn's moons. However, the reality is that only 2 major moons - Mimas and Iapetus - offer anything other than a near perfect edge on view of the rings. And there's good scientific reasons for why this is the case.
Software used:
Space Engine spaceengine.org/
Universe Sandbox universesandbox.com/
NASA Eyes On The Solar System eyes.nasa.gov/apps/solar-system/
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[@Edge-wx7hv]

so what I'm hearing is, to entice tourists, we should have a space hotel parked in like a polar orbit so as to get a good view of the rings

[@SkyStrider99]

Yeah... or why not just take an existing moon and adjust its orbit so it has a large enough inclination to see the rings? :)

[@adamkerman475]

@@SkyStrider99 now you’re thinking with portals.

[@CasualMoron123]

@@adamkerman475 Or really, really, really big boosters

[@davesunhammer4218]

Hmmm.... While a polar view would be good in the long run it would be like taking a picture of a full moon, static and less interesting than say a waxing moon where it's spherical shape is enhanced and crators enhanced by shadow. A constantly changing view of the rings would be optimal for enjoyment so selecting an orbit that rieaches 40+ degrees above/below the ecliptic would be worth the investment. And then if you could enjoy that view from an orbital infinity pool with party facilities, well, then you would be raking in the big bucks.

[@terdragontra8900]

@@davesunhammer4218 they said polar orbit, not magically floating above the pole, you'd get a constantly changing view that way, with the most variation in angle to the ecliptic possible

[@glennvanderburg8708]

While you wouldn't see much of the rings *directly* from a moon, you would definitely see the shifting shadows of the rings on Saturn itself. That in itself would make for some stunning views.

[@pyropulseIXXI]

Shadows make for ‘stunning views?’

[@BeyondSleepy]

@@pyropulseIXXI ever heard of an eclipse? People love that shit 😂

[@justinbremer2281]

@@pyropulseIXXI Ask Plato

[@vonschlesien]

@@pyropulseIXXI we have pictures, they are quite beautiful

[@StevePemberton2]

@@BeyondSleepy Viewing one of Earth's total solar eclipses from the Moon would be interesting, you would see the black round umbra shadow moving slowly across the Earth, surrounded by the fainter penumbra. It would be interesting and really cool but I don't know if it would be stunning.

[@galagachamp]

During my travels in Elite Dangerous, I always enjoyed finding the odd moons orbiting at inclinations differing from the ring plane.

[@iitzfizz]

It does look fascinating

[@MrMartinSchou]

My favourite screenshot was from the Horizon's beta, and it features Saturn, Bernard's Loop and the Witchead Nebula.

[@zamorskymisa]

Elite 2 : Frontier offered me much better views much sooner 🙂

[@DigitalNomadOnFIRE]

What ru flying in ED? I still have an Anaconda...

[@DigitalNomadOnFIRE]

@@zamorskymisa lol come on bro, Elite Dangerous has better graphics (I started on Elite on Amiga so I've seen it all lol)

[@-.._.-_...-_.._-..__..._.-.-.-]

I always assumed Saturn's rings were thick enough to be seen edge on. I just looked it up and learned it's only 1 km (0.6 mi) thick. That is super thin at these distances.

[@wilfdarr]

That was my question: how "2D" are they? Holy sh!t 1km is about at 2D as you get at that scale! Even for rings around Earth 1km would be pretty 2D, but against Saturn, wow, I had no idea!

[@DrWhom]

less than that, no more 100 metres.

[@wilfdarr]

"even using the bigger number of 1km... they're 100 times thinner than paper [at the same scale]"

[@brainmind4070]

@@DrWhom No, they do get thicker in places. They're not a constant thickness. At the edges of the gaps, the rings can even get multiple kilometers tall. An ice wall, if you will. ;-)

[@hongo3870]

Also at the edge of rings near the orbit of the shepherd moon, there are waves in the ring going up and down in an S pattern.

[@olencone4005]

The asteroid belt is in the same boat when it comes to accurate depictions -- it's often shown in an unrealistic way in films and artistic imagery, usually as a dense field of rocks close enough to bounce off each other... but in reality, if you were to stand on any random asteroid, you'd be so far away from the next closest asteroid that you'd be unable to see it.

[@StevePemberton2]

Another common trope in science fiction movies was the obligatory meteor shower that a spaceship would invariably run into not long after launching into space. Dozens of meteors would whizz by barely missing the spaceship.

[@Orinslayer]

@@StevePemberton2 space icebergs

[@Gentleman...Driver]

Also nebulas are depicted wrong. Space nebula are not dense. You wouldnt see them if you are in one of them. Oh, and spaceships that are flying like airplanes for some reason are a common thing in sci fi.

[@oberonpanopticon]

@@Gentleman...Driver ig it’s just hard to get people interested in scientifically accurate sci-fi. After all, that’s what the -fi part is for.

[@ChristopherDoll]

As a "SPACE ARTIST" myself, I am guilty of fudging reality to get a good view of Saturn's rings. But, I also take care to properly show them when necessary for astronomically accurate work. Love that you've called this out!

[@-danR]

As long as I can paddle along across liquid nitrogen seas, I'm not going to quibble about a few minor visual errors. It's giant cryo-squid that worry me.

[@417Owsy]

either way, thank you for pleasing my eyes XD

[@Novastar.SaberCombat]

Not to mention, what person X feels is 'astronomically correct' would differ from person Y's. If not simply because of the fact that humanity's visual response to the ENORMOUS ARRAY OF LIGHT AVAILABLE is so ridiculously tiny, it would be pretentious for almost anyone to claim: "Well, we wouldn't 'see' this, so... that shouldn't be there". THAT'S PUERILE. Infrared, Ultraviolet, X-Rays, Gamma Rays, and plenty more exist. Same with sound. And just because person X doesn't see, hear, or feel something most definitely does not mean that it isn't there. 🐲✨🐲✨🐲✨

[@StevePemberton2]

@@Novastar.SaberCombat In other wavelengths the perspective of the rings would be the same as they are in visible light.

[@RichardBarclay]

Hi I'm the art inspector, can I see your artistic license?

[@keatoncampbell820]

"Saturn is one of the Jools of the solar system"

[@boring1012]

Beat me to it

[@ENCHANTMEN_]

One of the planets of all time

[@pokepro1773]

Where are the other Jools then?

[@jimmyjango5213]

"Saturn is one of the joules of the solar system"

[@StealthTheUnknown]

@@pokepro1773 joopiter of kourse

[@ridleyroid9060]

I remember seeing saturn for the first time through my first telescope. Seeing the rings was just mindblowing, I couldn't believe what I was seeing, I was overjoyed. It is absolutely one of my favorite night sky objects to look at and it is sad that it is now going under until summer.

[@jex-the-notebook-guy1002]

It is nothing like what they show

[@WWeronko]

Okay Scott you shattered my delusion. I had been building my rocket in the shed for decades to fly to Saturn and spend my retirement years gazing at Saturn's rings through Titan's orange haze. Now I have to scrap the project and perhaps spend retirement watching the babes on the Caribbean beaches. Anyone have a need for 100 tons of metallic hydrogen?

[@patrickjordan2233]

"Retirement pivot" 👍👍😂🤣😂🤣

[@glenwaldrop8166]

Dude, not sure how you're gonna survive.

[@darksu6947]

@@glenwaldrop8166 I'll survive by smoking the rocks in Saturn's rings.

[@lilblackduc7312]

..WWeronko Either way Professor, the world is your oyster!😎👍☕

[@gromblereal]

can I borrow some

[@kirksealls1912]

Interesting note: the film _2001: A Space Odyssey,_ which was made concurrently with the writing of the novel of the same name by Arthur C. Clark, differs from the novel in that - amongst other changes - _Discovery One_ in the film is on a mission to Jupiter, while in the book it is traveling to Saturn. The film also planned on Saturn as the destination of this vessel, but this was changed because of the complexity of creating Saturn’s rings, which they did not believe they could do realistically

[@estevanguzman7456]

I'm a space artist who worked on the latest Griffith Observatory Planetarium show. My pet scene was the development of the Saturn system, and we were very adamant about embellishing as little as possible. Even though we only ever see the ring edge on, we do provide the unique experience of flying through them. In fact, when we brought in one of the lead directors of the Cassini mission to inspect it when complete and she said it was the most accurate representation of Saturn's and its rings ever created. I'm a personal believer that there is beauty in what's real. So this video really spoke to me.

[@Gjigfvniyf]

I work at Griffith, and I’ve seen Signs of Life roughly ten million times, and the scene where we transition from Europa to moving through Saturns rings is my absolute favorite part!

[@SardiPax]

Heartbroken, but also fascinated. I particularly enjoyed the explanation of how disparate orbits could coalesce into a flat ring system.

[@Veldtian1]

Enjoyed his flight of fancy you mean.

[@tomatodamashi]

I hate to break your heart even more, but in about 100 million years, Saturn's gravity and the sun's radiation will have all but destroyed the rings around Saturn

[@SardiPax]

@@tomatodamashi Thanks, but unfortunately google calendar won't let me put that in as a reminder for 100 Million Year's time for some reason.

[@nocache]

@@Veldtian1 how so

[@oberonpanopticon]

@@tomatodamashi on the bright side, in about 4 billion years not only will the sky be awash with new stars because of the andromeda galaxy hitting us, but Neptune could have really epic rings when triton passes it’s Roche limit!

[@MrDlenrek]

I love how you bring clarity to complex concepts. Great science communicator!

[@filonin2]

Seriously. He's reached 3/5 Sagans at least.

[@TimPerfetto]

@@filonin2 I AM SO SICK OF YOU I THREW UP OMG IT IS ALL HAIR THIS TIME

[@lucian6172]

That's not it at all. Try to guess what it is.

[@haydendunmusic]

No, he made it very confusing. For example, at 3:44 what’s earth being close to the sun got to do with the illumination on Saturn? Why is it a proxy?

[@MrJackHackney]

To humans, Saturn’s rings are only about 400 years old. Before Galileo’s telescopic journey, Saturn was just a bright moving Star in the sky! To see Saturn through the telescope with my own eyes was mind blowing. Galileo must have said “Holy shit!”

[@kaboom4679]

Always a favorite target of mine when I have my scope out . I was absolutely blown away the first time I saw it through a telescope . Doing outreach , most of the fainter objects are not very exciting for the uninitiated . Quite often you can never be sure if they actually saw some faint fuzzy nebula. With Saturn , you do not have to ask someone " do you see it ?" . They will tell you without saying a word . Their face says it all .

[@tonycook1624]

Actually Galileo's telescope was too under powered to make out it was rings. He described them as "ears". It was Christaan Huygens who worked out that what was seen was rings

[@PhysicsTutoringHub]

@@kaboom4679 Probably the best objects I've seen through my old refracting telescope is Jupiter, Saturn and Orion's Nebula. They are large enough (relative to their distance from Earth) to be able to spot details in their structure.

[@jamesphillips2285]

I was a little disappointed to only see it in black and white with a 12" telescope.

[@davesunhammer4218]

Incredible reminder of the insignificant length of time of our existence and our humble place in the universe.

[@417Owsy]

even without rings, i have to admit that the very notion that a huge hunk of gas is towering over your moon's sky is very haunting and amazing at the same time. still, the rings add more of that same feeling

[@MushookieMan]

Wouldn't collisions with gas molecules be more of a driving force than collisions between dust with other dust grains?

[@scottmanley]

Yes

[@francom6230]

Imo, yea as to distribution of matter.. but wouldn't gas be a result from the heavier shit colliding and vaporizing into smaller & smaller bits. Therefore changing it's state.. I still wanna say: "Joules of energy." Lol

[@glenwaldrop8166]

@@francom6230 Joules just be causing all kinds of problems... and solutions.

[@lilblackduc7312]

@@scottmanley Wow...I enjoyed this video almost more than any of them! Just spill the facts in a stream of conversation & splash the screen with endless eye-candy, Scott...It's one thing for a narrative of interesting facts & explanations, but the way you fashioned this video struck me as being quite exceptional.🇺🇸 😎👍☕

[@TrueFork]

also the stuff on intersecting orbits would probably experience minute tidal effects that would tend to harmonise them

[@rickfarny]

You have such a talent for explaining really complicated concepts in a natural and easy to understand way. I have always wondered about how the rings form but thanks to you I effortlessly understood it in less than ten minutes. Great stuff Scott!

[@father_flair]

This is such high-quality content! I currently teach 3rd- and 4th-graders, and we've been looking at the solar system. The details of this vid would be way too complicated for them, but I think I will show it to them anyway just so they can see the visuals.

[@thevictoryoverhimself7298]

What would be epic to see close up would be the mountain sized gravitational waves in the rings from the shepherd moons.

[@georgemorris7947]

Absolutely excellent episode! - I especially enjoyed the sandbox simulation showing the need for rings and planetary spin axes to be aligned. As an aside, I do remember many years ago greatly enjoying a view not unlike that you show to be impossible from a moon of Saturn from the surface of this Earth: albeit through a telescope during an occultation of the planet by our own moon.

[@highmountaingee]

Good stuff like always, Scott.

[@sporg]

Wonderful video as always, Scott. But remember the incredible space artist Chesley Bonestell, whose renders of Saturn seen from Titan, Mimas etc in the 50s were hyper accurate from the POV of angles and sizes. (He couldn't know how the moons would look, of course!)

[@-danR]

I think he took liberties with Iapetus' view, though . Cf. with tilmann denk 049IA_IapetusRidgeSaturnRise_Composite

[@Hatchettharry88]

I think this is one of my favourite ever Scott Manley videos! Saturn is beautiful. That Universe Sandbox simulation is mind-blowing! Love it!

[@nuvostef]

I knew that the Saturnian moons orbit more or less in Saturn’s rotational plane, but for some reason I never thought about what Saturn might look like from one of those moons. Thanks for broadening my perceptions! 🤙🏼🌹

[@justins21482]

I fancy myself more of a Neptune guy. blue IS my favorite color after all, imagine seeing that planet in the sky at night along side the moon. Glowing bright and blue in the sky....

[@QuantumHistorian]

Should I make a joke that I'm more of a Uranus guy, or are we all pretending we've grown past that now?

[@mancubwwa]

And despite nepunes rings being much thinner, you might actually see them, as Triton, unlike all other large moons has a huge inclination, and is also going retrograde

[@i-_-am-_-g1467]

@@QuantumHistorian butts are funny, i though this was universally accepted as a parameter by now.

[@RCAvhstape]

The movie Ad Astra from a few years ago was of questionable quality in some ways, but its depiction of what Neptune would look like up close to the naked eye was pretty spectacular.

[@ajclements4627]

Waking up to a large planet like Jupiter or Saturn like that would just creep me the heck out.

[@RideAcrossTheRiver]

See the film _Silent Running_ (1973)

[@robertobohm5328]

your videos are so good Scott

[@realzachfluke1]

Please do more videos like this, Scott, it was fantastic!!!

[@morrischen5777]

The perturbation of the unspherical planetary gravity field is really brilliant. We on earth also use this mechanism to distribute a cluster of satellite constellation into different inclination orbital planes without using much delta-v aside of orbital height adjusting.

[@terrylandess6072]

The moons acting as 'Sheppard's' to the ring material is an amazing phenomenon.

[@MCsCreations]

Fascinating stuff! Thanks, Scott! 😊 Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊

[@iowa_don]

Majorly Cool Scott!! Two thumbs WAY up!

[@moritzheintze7615]

Hi, this is the most interesting contribution on Saturns rings I have seen in a long time. 👏👏 One thing comes to my mind: It is not only the rings and protoplanetry disks: Any soft and flexible body freely spinning around its axis will assume a flat disk shape. This is how Pizza is made.

[@mmhmnms]

would love a good explainer video from Scott going over tidal forces and how they work, that was the only part of this video that I didn't get

[@leonardopierobon7423]

Your explanations are amazing! Thank you!

[@justcruisin81]

Thanks for keeping it real Scott Manley.

[@user-pb4hh1jk3f]

If you want a nice ring view, Triton is the place to go. It's got a nice retrograde inclined orbit around Neptune.

[@jeffmartin-g8r]

Imagine being a civilization on one of the equatorial moons. Always having that line and the moon dances in your history. But having little idea of what it is other than a thin fuzzy line. Imagine then finally getting out of plane and seeing it for what it is. That would have to be a mind-blowing revelation.

[@AstroTibs]

Only halfway through and this is an excellent, competent, and thorough video. Well stated.

[@c64cosmin]

thinking about the cataclysmic event that shredded the satellite that eventually became the rings and also the time it took for the rings to flatten is really a strong feeling to experience, not many examples that make you think about the eons that happened before.

[@sircompo]

When exploring in Elite Dangerous I'll often look out for moons with a highly inclined orbit around a ringed planet. I take comfort in the thought that even though it's just simulated, given how large the universe is, there's probably a near identical view somewhere out there. Oh, and anyone else out there who can't see a video about Saturn's moons without being reminded of the boys from the Dwarf? I've been to Titan I've been to Polanski I can name ninety men Who've slept with Kochanski

[@s10case]

Awesome info. Really liked this one.

[@tonymintz8537]

You seriously just answered a question that has bothered me for years about Uranus. Thank you!

[@janehates]

The idea of the ring appearing more like a straight line across the sky is its own kind of cool.

[@skynorth]

I will now and forever more consider the Fat Earth Theory when thinking about Saturn. Thank you, Scott. Thank you very much

[@tonycook1624]

As long as you dont slip an extra "L" into that - lol

[@therealzilch]

May I brag slightly by saying that I immediately knew why this view was impossible? Nice work as usual. Cheers from snowy Vienna, Scott

[@dettie1948]

Great very informative presentation, an issue that had no occured to me, really enjoyed it...

[@edp2260]

Scott, I am still waiting to see a clear image that show actual particles that the rings are made of. There have been many artistic impressions of what this might look like. Are there any pictures that show the rings as an infinite field of floating basket ball size chunks? Their actual nature is still elusive.

[@Mk-qb2ny]

Not elusive. From their dynamics it's clear that they are made of particles. The best images of flybys of the Saturnian moons have a resolution of tens to hundreds of meters per pixel, way too large to reveal the ring structure - and to image the ring thusly, you'd have to fly through them which would destroy the probe.

[@ralphlorenz4260]

There are Cassini and other data measuring the scattering of radio waves by the rings. These measurements at different wavelengths demonstrate quite conclusively the relative amounts of basketball-size vs baseball-size etc. There are no images that resolve baskeballs - there are some small embedded moonlets that are seen in Cassini images. Where you draw the line between a ring particle and a moonlet.....

[@chrismanuel9768]

The thing is... they're particles. Imagine trying to have someone show you the details of a dust cloud. There's isn't any, it's dust. That's what it looks like.

[@utoherozv]

It's actually really funny, because I've always wondered what rings from the surface looked like. Each time I've tried to make an artwork with rings in it, I kept getting caught up in the nonsense of it--it never occurred to me that I maybe just wouldn't.

[@OrkhanJulfa]

At last someone did video about this. Thank you!

[@stevecoates3799]

A nice analysis of our POV, thanks Scott

[@alexsiemers7898]

I think another problem with all space art is that it fails to account for how dim the outer planets would truly be; even if your vantage point is perfect for viewing Saturn’s rings, with the naked eye it would still be incredibly dim, assuming it looks like anything other than a particularly empty part of the sky Space engine has an option to lock your camera’s exposure level at specific values, so you could calibrate it to be reasonably bright on earth, and then head elsewhere in the solar system to see how dim (or bright on mercury and Venus) the planets would really be

[@keiyakins]

the human eye has a pretty ridiculous dynamic range, though. We can work in full sunlight or in a cave with a dim flashlight.

[@DunkSouth]

The human eye does not reckon intensity linearly and is very adaptable to changes in it, as long as they are gradual (think of stepping into the Sun after being in a dark movie theater). Saturn's rings are plenty bright to a human eye through an 8" reflecting telescope, so I reckon they will be pretty bright nearby (surface brightness and all). Edit: Actually, this brought me back to my observational Astronomy class, where we learned that surface brightness is independent of distance, if the source is too wide to be a point (so, galaxies and planets). This is because as an object recedes in distance, its size in your view (Ω) decreases with the square of distance, but like with all light, the flux density decreases with the square as well. So, these factors actually cancel out, as Flux ∝ Ω/Distance, and it is constant at non-cosmological distances. So actually, Saturn's rings will have the same surface brightness up-close as they do to us on Earth (through a telescope they are brilliant white/gold!).

[@wojtek4p4]

I don't think this is as much of an issue as you make it out to be. Human eyes are very good at adapting to different levels of light - within a reasonable range, obviously. Close to the New Horizons Pluto flyby there was a media campaign (#PlutoTime) showing people how much light there was on Pluto at noon. It was roughly the brightness of a sunrise/sunset - well within human brightness range. Saturn is ~4 times closer, meaning the Sun is 16 times brighter there. There are probably days darker than that here on Earth (no source here, please correct me if I'm wrong). "Locking exposure" is not something human eyes do - it's useful only as a tool for comparison.

[@d4rk0v3]

It would be dimmer than in photos, yes, but it would take up such a huge portion of the night sky, which would also be incredibly dark, that it would easily cast shadows. I've been to places on Earth where just starlight could cast a shadow. Saturn would be much brighter than the ambient starlight. Enough that it would wash out a good portion of the stars in the sky. It would be very impressive.

[@FarmerDrew]

Can't grow plants on it, that's for sure, thanks to the lawn of inverse square. Just takes all the crops down, darn lawn

[@silentdays3753]

Saw the name tom and a person in a red shirt and clicked… not the Tom I was expecting

[@ivyjay1521]

so fascinating! thanks for this!

[@emmanuellececchi8557]

Stunning video! I was wondering, among all your software, which one would allow a modelisation of an earth with rings? I looked but not sure if Universe Sandbox or SpaceEngine would allow me to "be on the surface". I am trying to establish the impact of rings on the surface (shadows, visual, equinox, etc.) for a novel. Thank you again!

[@AJMansfield1]

Fun fact: there were sharks in Earth's oceans before there were rings around Saturn.

[@russellharrell2747]

Every few years I see articles attesting the rings are from a ‘recent’ moon breakup a few millions years ago, then I’ll see articles that claim the rings have been there since Saturn has formed. Oh well

[@enkiimuto1041]

To be fair, there were sharks on earth before A LOT of other things on earth and elsewhere.

[@adrianf.5847]

I think you get flat rings even without collisions. Just let the simulation run long enough. In fact, they might ram each other such that the vertical motion of one of them may actually increase.

[@jcarroll276]

I knew what the answer would be and you answered it in the first two minutes. But the rest of the video taught me a lot! Great vid!

[@legendgamer676]

Fascinating, thank you for sharing this!

[@tnorki]

Answer: you can't see the rings from Saturn's moons. Saved you 10 minutes.

[@Speak_Out_and_Remove_All_Doubt]

That's no moon

[@ericvulgate]

That's yo mama

[@Speak_Out_and_Remove_All_Doubt]

@@ericvulgate haha

[@andrewharrison8436]

Brilliant, never thought of the view from the moons. Thanks for the education.

[@richb313]

Thanks Scott for this explanation.

[@QuestionMan]

My favorite planet is the Sun. Always has been. I like it cause it's like the king of planets.

[@Aaron_Lesse]

You could say it's the star of our solar system.

[@fluffysheap]

We should explore all the planets, including the sun. We would just have to land at night.

[@QuestionMan]

@@Aaron_Lesse Well, planet or star, when that thing burns out, we're all gonna be dead.

[@sunnyjim1355]

@@QuestionMan Well, we'll all be dead long long before that anyway..... know why? Because of a lack of CO2 in our atmosphere. Yep, that's right. That'll mean all plant life will die, and therefore all living things that depend on such. I know right, you couldn't make it up, but it's true... due to be in about 1Billion years, so don't panic.

[@carldori6172]

Thank you, that was informative and enjoyable

[@Schicksal0]

I love this. Thanks for sharing.

[@bbbenj]

Wonderful analysis 👍

[@bl8896]

This was amazing and important to know, truth and facts will always matter. Thank you

[@txikitofandango]

Clear and insightful

[@boobdylan8904]

its always a good day when scott manley uploads

[@djusgar]

"This is Call of Duty - Infinite Warfare, my favorite Call of Duty" Off with his head

[@Alexandragon1]

Thx for the video!

[@CaiLock]

thank you scott, I learned a lot

[@frankgulla2335]

Once again. Fantastic. job. Scott. You are the man.

[@do3807]

Saturn's marketing department is making a killing with these artworks

[@atomicdesignshop]

Really beautiful footage 😳

[@garyknight8616]

Fascinating. Thank you.

[@PhiTonics]

I love how you can see the issue here, but don't see it with the moon footage, priceless compartmentalization.

[@kompav5621]

5:05 - The rings splitting up reminds me of Treasure Planet from... Well, Treasure Planet. Looks cool

[@gabrielalejandrodoldan4722]

Yesss

[@Sotryn_Fox]

Somehow the simulation you used is far more intriguing and interesting that any artist rendition of what the rings look like

[@voicetest6019]

I recall a talk I attended about the Cassini probe and its impact on the science of planet/moon formation. The UBC professor who gave the talk talked at length about the moons that are being both created and destroyed by Saturn's gravity in the ring. As I recall: its that accretion is happening on the far side facing away from Saturn, eating the ring into the moon, but then Saturn's gravity is tearing it apart into fresh ring material on the near side. He said it suggested that the rings may have a sort of self-maintaining mechanic in them because of this. Also that the gaps moves outward over time as a result of this "dance".

[@General12th]

Hi Scott!

[@joyl7842]

Saturn and its visible moons are truly a sight to behold from earth. I saw them one time through a small amateur telescope from a dark location on the south coast of Sweden.

[@StefanVeenstra]

Appreciation goes up considering whenever an object needs a gravity assist, people need to figure out the trajectory not only for the fly by, also the effects of pull from the body's equator, poles and moons. Expect a gravity assist around the plane of the rings tug differently at the spacecraft than around the poles.

[@zimrileisher]

Scott, I wish you would post sources for the videos you include more often. There were many Saturn 5 footage bits that I wanted to find exactly, and in this video, those shots of a moon in Saturn's rings, I don't know where it comes from.

[@BrassLock]

Truly awe inspiring stuff.

[@Le_Comte_de_Monte_Felin]

Thank you for bringing interesting science to those of us without rings.

[@gpetheri]

I always get a chuckle at the animations of the Voyager probes flying with the dish pointed forward........

[@Datamining101]

Love the grand tour images.

[@lilblackduc7312]

Thank you, Scott! This was very rewarding to watch...🇺🇸 😎👍☕

[@stuartnetherclift7566]

Hi Scott, thanks for all the excellent content. Question for you and may be an interesting topic for a future video. With all the recent resurgent interest in nuclear thermal propulsion, do you know if any work been done on this using anything other than hydrogen as the working fluid? Appreciate hydrogen has performance advantages but its a swine to store due to low temperature requirements, low density and its ability to leak / embrittle metal containers. Could methane, CO2, ammonia or water etc. be practical alternatives perhaps? i.e. something derived from in situ resources...

[@kristensorensen2219]

#4.7👍👏👏🎉Excellent lecture sir!!💖

[@mumiemonstret]

Thanks for giving us yet another pet peeve when watching sci-fi... 😀

[@ericfielding2540]

The simulation of the effects of the ellipsoidal Saturn on rings at the wrong inclination is brilliant.

[@uneducatedseinor4962]

YUHH Scott Fridays

[@Cheezbuckets]

I don’t know why this video got put in my reccs, I’ve never been a big space person, but it brought back an old, old memory of a camping trip when I was very young, I can’t even remember how old I was, where someone with a fancy telescope had come to entertain/educate us kids. I don’t remember a whole lot of it, I remember having to stay inside with the lights out for maybe half an hour and being incredibly bored so our eyes could fully adjust. And I remember when it was my turn to look into the prepared telescope and seeing Saturn. It was tiny and very pale, but I still remember the sight of that little orb with its little rings. The enormity of what I was looking at didn’t really hit me back then, and I don’t think about it all that often, but when a video like this comes along and reminds me, I just kinda pause and take a deep breath and think….damn, I really saw Saturn itself with my own eyes.

[@Eat_shit--die_mad]

You would be able to see the rings like in the artistic renderings on iapetus because of how it has an elliptical tilted orbit, Phoebe too

[@sovo1212]

Could you make an update video about Stratolaunch and its Talon spacecraft? I think your last video was about 2 years ago.

[@tturi2]

you can change the inclination by looking up and turning your perspective, the rings will always be an East West line, but it could be up and down according to the direction you're travelling

[@offdagrid877]

Nice graphics Scott, would the radiation from the planet not make a visit to the moons a little dicey?