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TY - JOUR AU - Canup, Robin M. PY - 2010 DA - 2010/12/01 TI - Origin of Saturn’s rings and inner moons by mass removal from a lost Titan-sized satellite JO - Nature SP - 943 EP - 946 VL - 468 IS - 7326 AB - Previous theories developed to explain the origins of Saturn's rings — based on collisional disruption of a small moon or tidal disruption of a passing comet — have failed to account for the basic properties of the rings, including their icy composition. Robin Canup proposes a new model in which the rings were formed by the action of planetary tidal forces on a large moon as it migrated inwards, stripping away its icy outer layer and leaving a rocky core that was eventually lost to collision with the planet. The result would be a massive ring made of pure ice, which has since evolved through collisions with meteoroids to produce the rings we see today, which are 90–95% water ice. SN - 1476-4687 UR - https://doi.org/10.1038/nature09661 DO - 10.1038/nature09661 ID - Canup2010 ER -