An optical illusion during Saturn's equinox is to blame for the rings disappearing from view briefly. The next time this is set to happen is May 6, 2025.

And the event is relatively rare: Ring plane crossings — as the phenomenon is known — typically occur twice during the 29.4 years it takes Saturn to make one orbit around the sun.

The rings were divided into sections called the A, B, and C rings, and a few fainter ones labeled D, E, F, and G. Between the A and B rings lay the 2,982-mile-wide Cassini Division.

In three months, Saturn's iconic, icy rings will appear to disappear, giving you a preview of what the planet could look like 100 million to 300 million years from now.. On March 23, an optical ...

Saturn's iconic rings will seemingly "disappear" from view this weekend as they align edge-on with Earth for the first time since 2009. Skip to main content. Open menu Close menu.

The rings, believed to be made up of rocky and icy chunks that could be as large as a house, help separate Saturn from other planets in our solar system. They’re also about to perform a ...

Starting on Sunday, Saturn’s rings will seem to disappear for a few days. For the next several months, Simon said the rings will “remain very thin” to our eyes.

Labeled image of Saturn and some of its moons, captured by the James Webb Space Telescope’s NIRCam instrument on June 25, 2023. In this monochrome image, NIRCam filter F323N (3.23 microns) was ...

Saturn’s rings are no more than a few hundred million years old and will only exist as they are today for another few hundred million years. Skip to content.

NASA image showing how Saturn's rings will appear to disappear during its equinox in 2025. NASA. The last time this was visible was in September 2009, and will occur again in October 2038.

Starting on Sunday, Saturn’s rings will seem to disappear for a few days. For the next several months, Simon said the rings will “remain very thin” to our eyes.