For a loosely-bound asteroid, the Roche limit is an altitude of about 15,800 kilometers (roughly 9,800 miles). That's lower ...

followed by a close encounter with a large asteroid passing through the Earth's Roche limit, which then created a ring of ...

The study authors hypothesize that a large asteroid, estimated to be about 7.5 miles (12 kilometers) in diameter, instead reached Earth’s Roche limit, which might have been about 9,800 miles ...

The researchers' idea that Earth once had rings comes from reconstructions of Earth's plate tectonics from the Ordovician period—which ran between 485.4 million years and 443.8 million years ago ...

The finding suggests that a large, space-weathered asteroid that likely strayed within Earth’s Roche limit broke up near the planet, the study authors wrote. A few million years following the period ...

The theory purports that an asteroid came within Earth's Roche limit -- the distance at which the asteroid would fall apart due to Earth's gravity -- broke apart, and the remnants formed a ring ...

The hypothesized ring may have formed roughly 466 million years ago and was the remains of a gigantic asteroid tugged apart by Earth's tidal forces after passing our planet's Roche limit.. Casting ...

As the asteroid passed within Earth's Roche limit, it broke apart due to tidal forces, forming a debris ring around the planet—similar to the rings seen around Saturn and other gas giants today.

Facebook X Reddit Email Save. Researchers have found evidence suggesting that the Earth may have once had a system of Saturn-like rings.The rings are theorized to have formed 466 million years ago ...

The exact distance depends on the characteristics of the two bodies. For a solid asteroid approaching Earth, the Roche limit may be just over 3000 kilometres, while an asteroid made up of loosely ...