A recent discovery has shocked the scientific community: 460 million years ago, Earth had rings similar to those of Saturn. This incredible phenomenon was confirmed by the analysis of a series of impact craters present on rocks dating back to theOrdovician. The scientists found that the craters follow a particularly unusual pattern, aligned in a suspicious way.
According to researchers, the explanation more plausible concerns a large asteroid that would have come too close to the Earthexceeding the Roche limit, the minimum distance beyond which a celestial body fragments due to gravitational attraction. There proximity excessive would have caused the breakup of the asteroidgenerating a rain of debris which, orbiting around our planet, would have formed spectacular rings.
The Earth had rings like Saturn: but the discovery doesn’t stop there
In fact, it is hypothesized that the material of these rings fell back to Earth over millions of years, drastically influencing the climate.
This phenomenon may have contributed to the second largest mass extinction everthe one linked to the Ordovician glaciation.
This discovery opens new perspectives on the history of our planet, showing how cosmic events can profoundly influence evolution terrestrial. The possibility that the Ordovician glaciation was partly caused by rings orbiting the Earth offers a novel glimpse into a remote era and its forces celestials who shaped her.
It remains to be seen what others surprises our cosmic past will hold us in store, but what is certain is that the Earth and its relationship with the Universe still hide many mysteries ready to be revealed.
#Earth #rings #Saturn #incredible #discovery