The Mystery of Saturn…Solved!

Today is the birthday of Edouard Roche, born October 17, 1848 in Montpellier, France (one of my favorite cities), for whom the Roche limit or Roche Radius is named.  

The Roche Limit is the distance within which a celestial body, held together only by its own gravity, will disintegrate due to the tidal forces exhibited by a second  body, the second body’s forces exceeding the first body’s gravitational self-attraction.  Inside the Roche radius, orbiting material is spread around and forms rings whereas outside the limit material tends to coalesce and reform.  

Roche was the first astronomer to note that just as the moon attracts the Earth’s water, the gravitational pulls of multiple objects in space could be large enough to pull a body apart.  The rings of Saturn are a great example.  Oh, and about that alien megastructure found around KIC 8462852? 

 #Justsayin #rocheradiusmakesmoresense

Image of Edouard Roche in the Public Domain.  Image of Saturn and close up of Saturn’s rings courtesy NASA.