Planetary rings for earth

[Kaboose the Moose]

Got this from another site:


It's essentially an artist's (Roy Prol) impression of what the earth would like if it had a ring system like Saturn but its not just limited to how the planet would look externally but also how we as humans on the planet would see it in the skies from our various cities.

The description bar says: "What the rings would look like from different cities and latitudes across the world. It's interesting to imagine how it would effect culture throughout time. It would have influenced religion, mythology, navigation, etc.." which I think is an interesting point.

If Earth was somehow capable of acquiring and then holding onto planetary rings, how do you think it would have influenced us in our evolution as a species? Also how awesome would the rings look from your hometown?

 

[Irony's Acolyte]

That was a pretty cool video. Really interesting the think about what would it be like if the Earth had rings similar to Saturn. I imagine that aside from looking kind of cool, it might have some effects on gravity and temperature on Earth. Tides might be effected by something like that, don't know if they do the same for Saturn. Also they could block out a decent part of the sun, thus decreasing the temperature somewhat. And we might have an increase in meteors hitting the Earth's atmosphere.

But I imagine that this would have a huge impact on different cultures. The rings would play a huge part in ancient mythology, of that there is no doubt. The sun and moon are usually part of different mythologies, something like the rings would probably play an equally important part. And it would make navigation much easier as well since the rings would almost always be visible and would change depending upon your latitude.

 

[Wintermoot]

cool! I wish this was real. But wouldnt that mean that launching satilites would be impossible without damaging these rings?

 

[Geekosaurus]

We're basically creating rings with satellites. Apparently there are thousands and thousands up there.

 

[Popadoo]

That would totally fuck up the tides.

 

[C95J]

That was a brilliant video, I loved looking at those picture representations

It would be interesting to think what it would be like with rings.

 

[IntangibleMango]

We're basically creating rings with satellites. Apparently there are thousands and thousands up there.

This!

How long before it actually looks like this due to all the satellites we send up there?

 

[GWarface]

Cool video.
Since all major religions has sprung out from sun worship, i have no doubt in my mind that those rings would have had big implications on all religions..

Maybe we will make it artificially some day, with solar panels as a way of getting energy from the sun or cosmic rays.. Just a quick thought i had...

 

[Avaholic03]

Those photoshopped images just didn't seem right. The rings appeared too close to the horizon. They would have to be higher in the sky. Also, it seems at that distance we'd be able to pick out individual debris in the rings, rather than them looking so smooth and uniform.

 

[Lord Legion]

earth does have a ring, but it is far to faint to differentiate, however we are adding more and more space junk up there, so one day maybe some other civilization will see all the crap we launched into orbit.

Think how awesome it would be to find a derelict space capsule floatingaround up there with a velociraptor in there...

 

[Crelda]

Do you think it would have made people less likely to believe that the earth was flat? Would people in the past thought of it as a ring? They might have seen it as a wall. What might have been on the other side? Hell? Paradise? The picture from Ecuador made it look like a tower but it would go all the way over their head too. Oh the possibilities.

 

[captaincabbage]

That would totally fuck up the tides.

Not to mention the ecosystems on places that would be darkened by their shadows for 6 months of the year. It really depends if and how they would rotate in accordance with the Earth, which would be a tricky thing to figure out.

It'd look fucking beautiful though. Besides, if Earth did have these rings, it would have eebn for millions of years and nature would have evolved around them, just like nature's evolution in accordance with seasons and the tides. We'd probably have and entire ecosystem in that dark band of the world which would be unique and bizarre if we tried to imagine it.

 

[Heart of Darkness]

cool! I wish this was real. But wouldnt that mean that launching satilites would be impossible without damaging these rings?

Wouldn't actually be the other way around? Planetary rings aren't solid sheets of ice, but rather ice chunks, space rocks, and dust. If anything, sending a satellite through a planetary ring should damage the satellite heavily.

Or maybe I just fail at astrology.

OT: It actually would be interesting to think about how these rings would have affected the rise and development of world cultures. At the very least, the only thing I could say would be that culture and society today would probably be much different. As to how it'd be different, I can't really fathom, since I'm not too well-versed in the study of early cultures.

EDIT: Also, what the guy above me said about the ecosystem. Now THAT would be weird and yet insanely awesome.

 

[Afterglow]

It would also mean that we would have a completely different calendar system as most cultures have based their calendars on lunar cycles, indeed, the word month is an alteration of the word moon.

 

[OctalLord]

That would totally fuck up the tides.

Not to mention the ecosystems on places that would be darkened by their shadows for 6 months of the year. It really depends if and how they would rotate in accordance with the Earth, which would be a tricky thing to figure out.

It'd look fucking beautiful though. Besides, if Earth did have these rings, it would have eebn for millions of years and nature would have evolved around them, just like nature's evolution in accordance with seasons and the tides. We'd probably have and entire ecosystem in that dark band of the world which would be unique and bizarre if we tried to imagine it.

I can imagine alot of creatures that work similerly to Angler Fish in the deep sea.

Spoiler

 

[Geekosaurus]

We're basically creating rings with satellites. Apparently there are thousands and thousands up there.

This!

How long before it actually looks like this due to all the satellites we send up there?

Well they don't have to orbit in rings so they can just send them up in any old direction. But eventually we might create another layer - like the earth is the gooey centre to a satellite eclair.

 

[Chris Binkley]

That would totally fuck up the tides.

Not to mention the ecosystems on places that would be darkened by their shadows for 6 months of the year. It really depends if and how they would rotate in accordance with the Earth, which would be a tricky thing to figure out.

It'd look fucking beautiful though. Besides, if Earth did have these rings, it would have eebn for millions of years and nature would have evolved around them, just like nature's evolution in accordance with seasons and the tides. We'd probably have and entire ecosystem in that dark band of the world which would be unique and bizarre if we tried to imagine it.

I wouldn't be really dark though, since they would be made ice and dust that sort of thing some light would get through but not much. It would actually be more like those parts of the world only being lit by a giant florescent light behind frosted glass. Not sure if they would have enough mass to effect the tides.....I wonder if the rings would grow and shrink from the moon. Seeing ring tides would be interesting.

 

[RobCoxxy]

That would totally fuck up the tides.

Rings are mostly made of dust. So not really.

 

[IntangibleMango]

We're basically creating rings with satellites. Apparently there are thousands and thousands up there.

This!

How long before it actually looks like this due to all the satellites we send up there?

Well they don't have to orbit in rings so they can just send them up in any old direction. But eventually we might create another layer - like the earth is the gooey centre to a satellite eclair.

Your response has made me hungry. Congratulations!

 

[Roamin11]

Real cool but did it have to be done to Ave Maria?? Like that song just...

*shudders*