What If What if Earth had rings?

[Kyng]

Many of us will know that the gas giants have ring systems, with Saturn's rings being by far the most famous. Fewer of us will know that some of the dwarf planets (such as Quaoar) have rings... and it's believed that the Earth did at one point . But, what if the Earth still had rings today? The above video, by Joe Scott, explores this question:

• First of all: our rings wouldn't look like Saturn's. The reason why Saturn's are so shiny is because they contain ice - but rings around Earth wouldn't, because we're too close to the Sun. Instead, our rings would be composed of rock (which would be quite shiny, but less so than Saturn's rings).
  
  
• The rings would be visible at all times of day, but they'd loom largest over the regions midway between the poles and the equator. Closer to the equator, they'd appear narrower; and close to the poles, they'd mostly be below the horizon. And at night, they'd appear illuminated - dominating even the Moon!
  
  
• During summer, the rings would reflect sunlight back onto the Earth - and during winter, they'd block some of this light from reaching Earth. Therefore, we'd have more extreme seasons: hotter summers, and colder, darker winters. As a result, animals might be stouter and stockier, to help them through these brutally cold winters.
  
  
• In our real, ringless world, the Moon has a major influence on our art, culture and religion. But if the Earth had rings, then these would dominate the Moon - and this would likely be reflected in our culture . For example, some religions might treat the rings as an "in-between world" between life and death - and some cultures might observe the dates when the Earth's shadow causes the rings to disconnect and re-connect in the night sky.
  
  
• Exploration would be helped by the rings: it'd be hard to lose your place when, throughout the Northern Hemisphere, the rings are always pointing southwards (and vice versa in the Southern Hemisphere ). On the other hand, astronomy would be both helped and hindered: the rings would block large parts of the sky, and it'd be harder to get satellites up there - but those rings would've given us an earlier understanding of gravity and the nature of the Solar System!
  
  
• Finally, would the rings last? There are two forces that might tear them apart over the years. First of all, the Moon's gravitational influence could disrupt them (just like the tides do). Secondly, because the Earth isn't perfectly round, the aberrations in the Earth's surface could destabilise the rings over time.

I will admit, the rings would look nice - but I'm not sure I'd want the more extreme seasons ! What do you think?

[deyana]

That's really interesting.

Space itself is always fascinating.

[ZandraJoi]

I've love for the Earth to have rings. Extreme seasons, we can already have those lol

[Kyng]

I've love for the Earth to have rings. Extreme seasons, we can already have those lol

True, but would we want even more extreme seasons than we already have ?

Then again, in this hypothetical reality, we wouldn't know any different: we'd just think of that 'extreme' weather as 'normal' . And we're a creative bunch, so we'd probably find ways of dealing with it !