In fact, data collected by NASA's Cassini spacecraft back in 2017 revealed it's expected to actually take 100 million years for the rings to disappear permanently. Saturn's rings will melt away thanks to the Sun's UV radiation and other meteoroids colliding with the rings and causing the ice particles to vaporise.

For centuries, Saturn’s stunning rings have fascinated astronomers and space lovers alike. But in a strange twist of cosmic mechanics, these legendary rings are about to vanish—at least from Earth’s point of view.

NASA’s Dragonfly rotorcraft lander is designed for flight on Saturn's moon Titan. See a "half-scale Dragonfly lander model" in tests at NASA Langley. Credit: Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory M

Once its rings vanish from sight in March 2025, Saturn will look like a pale yellow sphere through most telescopes.

Here's everything you need to know about why Saturn's rings are about to disappear — and when they will return.

Saturn's iconic ring system will disappear, albeit temporarily, on March 23—a preview of its fate in 100 million years.

A theory involving a "mushy zone" of ice along the moon’s fissures could explain the enormous plumes erupting from its south pole.

Mars, Jupiter and Saturn are frequently seen in the night sky. But because Venus and Mercury orbit closer to the sun than Earth, with smaller, faster orbits, it's more rare for them to make an appearance, according to NASA. Venus is visible for only a few ...

Mercury has a rocky surface when, facing the sun, can reach highs of 800 degrees while overnight lows could reach minus 290 degrees, according to the space agency. Venus holds the crown of the hottest planet in the solar system, at 900 degrees.

The world’s premier space observatory has spotted a mysterious and huge, free-floating planetary-mass object that’s “just 20 light-years from Earth,” NASA announced. Researchers recently used the James Webb Space Telescope to study the atmosphere of this “Super Jupiter,” dubbed SIMP 0136.

A pair of extraordinary space missions that have been headed out of the solar system for almost half a century are getting a new lease on life as NASA engineers order the Voyager 1 and 2 deep-space probes to shut down two instruments to save power.