What are Saturn’s rings made of?

Available for over a year

Saturn’s rings were first spotted in the 17th Century by Galileo, but two centuries later, despite having more powerful telescopes, it was still unknown exactly what they were. Professor Martin Hendry explains to presenter Susie Mitchell how the Scottish scientist James Clerk Maxwell went about solving the conundrum using mathematics. Maxwell’s calculations were highly praised at the time, and in the late 20th Century, the spacecraft Voyager beamed back images from Saturn proving beyond doubt that he had been correct. Image courtesy of NASA Via AFP / Getty Images