How Many Rings Does Each Planet Have?
The only planets that have rings are Saturn, Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune. Saturn has seven major rings with gaps and divisions between the rings; Jupiter has three faint rings; Uranus has 13 rings; and Neptune has six rings.
Galileo Galilei discovered the rings around Saturn in 1610. Each ring is made up of billions of particles that are as small as dust and as large as mountains. Several moons exist within the gaps. Saturn’s rings expand 175,000 miles.
Jupiter has faint rings around the planet. In 1979, the Voyager 2 spacecraft discovered the rings. Jupiter’s ring system is made up of three parts: the gossamer rings, the halo ring and the flat main ring. The rings are made from dust created by impacts. The flat ring is 4,000 miles wide, and the halo ring is approximately 12,400 to 25,000 miles thick.
The inner, narrow rings of Uranus are dark, and its outer rings are brightly colored. In 1986, Voyager 2 confirmed that 13 rings existed, disproving the earlier belief that there were only six rings.
Voyager 2 confirmed the presence of six rings around Neptune in 1989. The three prominent arcs are named Liberty, Equality and Fraternity. The rings extend 38,525 miles from the planet.
