Debris ring

Saturn's rings, as seen from the Cassini Orbiter, in 2004.

When Astronomers first turned telescopes to the night-sky they observed Planet Saturn's rings.

Galileo, the first person to turn telescope to the night sky, who first observed moons orbiting Planet Jupiter also observed Saturn's rings, in 1610, but did not recognize they were rings. It was Christiaan Huygens, 45 years later, who first realized Saturn had a ring system.

In 1675 Giovanni Domenico Cassini was the first to describe gaps in the Saturn's rings. Astronomers now realize the gaps are due to the tidal forces from Saturn's moons.

Saturn's moons are spectacular. In the late 20th century Astronomer's observed that Jupiter, Planet Uranus and Planet Neptune are orbited by much more tenuous rings of debris.

Debris rings are believed to be temporary phenomenon, formed when a moon orbits close enough that tidal forces overcome its structural integrity, and rip it apart. Rings are expected to lose mass as tidal interaction fling fragments away, or gling fragments towards the planet's surface.

Phobos, one of the moons of Planet Mars, is expected to come close enough to Mars that it will disintegrate, and forma debris ring, in 20 million years.

In 2013 10199 Chariklo was the first non-planet to be found with debris ring.