Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture ProCon Money Videos
C ring
References
Images
Saturn's rings as seen by the Voyager 2 spacecraft, as it passed within 103,000 km (64,000 miles) of the outermost ring, the F ring ( bottom). Above the F ring is a gap caused by the orbit of a small satellite. Following are three sections of the ring system visible from Earth[emdash]the A ring, Cassini division, and B ring. In the background is the fainter C ring. Saturn's three main rings
Britannica AI Icon

C ring

astronomy
Also known as: Crepe ring
Written by
The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

The Information Architects maintain a master list of the topics included in the corpus of  Encyclopædia Britannica, and create and manage the relationships between them.
The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Last updated

Quick Summary

Saturn's rings as seen by the Voyager 2 spacecraft, as it passed within 103,000 km (64,000 miles) of the outermost ring, the F ring ( bottom). Above the F ring is a gap caused by the orbit of a small satellite. Following are three sections of the ring system visible from Earth[emdash]the A ring, Cassini division, and B ring. In the background is the fainter C ring.
Saturn's rings as seen by the Voyager 2 spacecraft, as it passed within 103,000 km (64,000 miles) of the outermost ring, the F ring ( bottom). Above the F ring is a gap caused by the orbit of a small satellite. Following are three sections of the ring system visible from Earth[emdash]the A ring, Cassini division, and B ring. In the background is the fainter C ring.

The C ring is one of Saturn's major rings, located closer to the planet than the more prominent B and A rings. It is also known as the "crepe ring" due to its faintness. The C ring has a lower optical depth, meaning it is more transparent, with values near 0.1. It extends from approximately 74,490 to 91,980 kilometers from Saturn's center. While visible from Earth, it is less bright and thinner than the B and A rings. The C ring contains several gaps, including the Colombo, Maxwell, Bond, and Dawes gaps, which are named after astronomers who studied Saturn. Like other planetary rings, the C ring is composed primarily of ice particles and is thought to be relatively young, possibly formed from the breakup of a comet or moon.12

Summary created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
2 Britannica Sources
  1. Saturn - The ring system
  2. planetary ring

Ask Britannica AI about this topic

Britannica doesn't have a full article on this topic, so we've curated a list of our relevant coverage.