(IMAGE)
Caption
This is a side view of Saturn's ring-satellite system. (Top) Saturn's rings used to be more massive than they are today, and they spread outwards due to collisions and gravitational interactions between particles. (Bottom) When particles move sufficiently outward, they merge into satellites due to mutual gravity. These satellites then move farther away from Saturn. Consequently, the satellites that formed earlier when the rings were more massive are larger and located farther out, whereas multiple small satellites tend to form just outside of the main rings at the final stage of the satellite system formation.
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2004- Kobe University. All Rights Reserved
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