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( Planetary ring)
A planetary ring is a ring of cosmic dust and other small particles orbiting around a planet in a flat disc-shaped region. The most spectacular planetary rings known are those around Saturn, but the other three gas giants of the solar system (Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune) possess ring systems of their own. Recent reports[1][2][3] have suggested that the Saturnian moon Rhea may have its own tenuous ring system, which would make it the only moon known to possess a ring system. There are three ways that planetary rings have been proposed to have formed from material of the protoplanetary disk that was within the Roche limit of the planet and thus could not coalesce to form moons; from the debris of a moon that was disrupted by a large impact; or from the debris of a moon that was disrupted by tidal stresses when it passed within the planet's Roche limit. Most rings are thought to be unstable and to dissipate over the course of tens or hundreds of millions of years, but it appears that Saturn's rings might be quite old, dating to the early days of the Solar system.[4] The composition of ring particles varies; they may be silicate or icy dust. Larger rocks and boulders may also be present, and in 2007 tidal effects from eight 'moonlets' only a few hundred meters across were detected within Saturn's rings.
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