Saturn's Rings Slowly "Rain" Onto the Planet

Saturn’s rings are not static: some tiny, electrically charged water-ice particles are pulled into the planet’s upper atmosphere under the influence of its magnetic field and gravity. Scientists call this process “ring rain.” Cassini data confirmed material flowing from the rings into Saturn. Some models suggest the present rings could change substantially or disappear over the next few hundred million years. That is not a precise forecast: scientists are still studying the rate of material loss and the rings’ age.