Earth Will Have Rings Like Saturn Soon, But They’ll Be Made Out Of Trash

Saturn, the second-largest planet in our solar system, is known for the most spectacular ring system, but the Earth doesn’t have any ring. What if I say Earth will have rings of its own in the near future. Yes, scientists believe that Earth will have rings, but the catch is it will not be made up of majestic ice like Saturn, but it will be made of the 'Space Trash’.

How will these rings form?

Photo Credit: NASA

The reason is that space exploration initiatives have increased exponentially in the last few decades leading to a surge in the number of satellites and probes that remain in Earth's orbit. Due to this space debris, rings may develop around our planet. This is no surprise with the rising number of defunct satellites and anti-satellite tests.

But it is not a good thing!

This is terrible news! The clutter is causing problems for satellites and future probes. More than 170 million space junk revolves around the Earth, out of which 670,000 are larger than half an inch. The impact of this junk is extreme, like satellites that want to aid connectivity may end up colliding with each other. If that were to happen, not only connectivity will disrupt, but more pieces of junk will appear.

Space junk can be considered a type of pollution, and it has grown exponentially in the past decades by about 7500 metric tons.

How are we supposed to clean it?

"Earth is on course to have its own rings," Jake Abbott, a professor of robotics at the University of Utah, told The Salt Lake Tribune. "They'll just be made of junk," he added. Abbott has worked with magnets for years. The best way to remove this junk is by using magnets. We can attach magnets to robotic arms to create electric currents that help control and slow down space junk. The researchers have figured how to spin magnets rapidly and how to manipulate objects even if they are not made up of magnetic metal such as space debris.

Conclusion

So, that's what happens when we use technology without thinking of its consequences. A large amount of trash is still floating in the space, but the cleaning is not started. We hope that the process of cleaning by magnets work and we save ourselves from this new kind of pollution, ' space pollution'.

Aditya Gupta is the writer of this article. Views expressed, and information provided belong solely to the author.