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Rippled Rings

Rippled Rings
Variations in ring particle concentration give Saturn's brilliant rings the appearance of ripples in a pond in this close-up view from NASA's Cassini spacecraft. Many of the gaps and wavelike patterns elsewhere in the rings are due to the gravitational influence of Saturn's moons, but the origin in the B ring seen here is still unexplained.

Variations in ring particle concentration give Saturn’s brilliant rings the appearance of ripples in a pond in this close-up view from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft. Many of the gaps and wavelike patterns elsewhere in the rings are due to the gravitational influence of Saturn’s moons, but the origin of much of the structure in the B ring seen here is still unexplained.Image Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute