how old are saturn's rings

Saturn's rings' age is still a matter of scientific debate with two main competing views. One view, supported by measurements from NASA's Cassini mission, suggests the rings are relatively young—no more than about 400 million years old, possibly forming after the time of the dinosaurs. This estimate is based on the rings' purity and the low contamination from micrometeoroids, indicating they have not been exposed for billions of years. Another emerging perspective, grounded in recent research and modeling, suggests the rings could be much older, potentially as old as Saturn itself, around 4.5 billion years. This view argues that the rings' pristine ice composition might be due to dirt-resistant properties rather than youthful origin. In short, Saturn's rings could be as young as a few hundred million years or could be as old as 4.5 billion years, and ongoing research continues to investigate this puzzle.