How did Jupiter's Rings Form?

Jupiter's Gossamer Ring as seen by the Galileo spacecraft

New Horizons spacecraft image of Jupiter's faint dust rings Jupiter's faint rings were first discovered by the Voyager 1 spacecraft in 1979, when it looked back at Jupiter and towards the Sun. They are so faint and tenuous, they are only visible when viewed from behind Jupiter and are lit by the Sun, or directly viewed in the infrared where they faintly glow. Unlikely Saturn’s icy rings full of large icy and rock chunks, they are composed of small dust particles.

Early in its mission to Jupiter, the Galileo spacecraft made observations that provided confirmation on how Jupiter's rings were formed, as the dust was seen to coincide with small moon locations: the two Gossamer rings near the small moons Amalthea and Thebe and the main ring near Adrastea and Metis. Scientists had long believed that dust coming off of Adrastea and Metis formed the main ring, but were unsure of the origin of the Gossamer rings.


Jupiter's rings are formed from dust particles hurled up by micro-meteor impacts on Jupiter's small inner moons and captured into orbit. If the impacts on the moons were any larger, then the larger dust thrown up would be pulled back down to the moon's surface by gravity. The rings must constantly be replenished with new dust from the moons to exist.