Astronomers discover Saturn-like rings around asteroid
Reporter
Saturday, March 29, 2014, 3:07 PM -
Astronomers are always making exciting new discoveries.
This one was made in our own backyard. For the first time ever, scientists have found an asteroid surrounded by a set of rings.
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Asteroids are found across our solar system. This is one of the largest orbiting between Saturn and Uranus. It is about 250 km across, or just a bit bigger than Prince Edward Island.
Careful observations have shown that two narrow rings encircle the huge rock.
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Researchers believe they formed from debris left over by a collision with another object. Until this discovery, scientists thought rings couldn't form around asteroids.
Rings also orbit the planets Saturn, Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune.
