The series “Imaginary Earths” speculates what the world might be like if one key aspect of life was changed, be if the planet or with humanity itself. What might Earth be like if it had rings, or if everyone could photosynthesize like plants?
The rings of Saturn grant the planet a majesty befitting a world named after the king of the Titans. Made nearly completely of bits and chunks of ice and spanning thousands of miles wide, Saturn’s rings have been its most spellbinding feature ever since Galileo discovered the first signs of them in 1610.
What might Earth be like crowned with rings? Space and science- fiction illustrator Ron Miller created extraordinary images of how the sky might look if Earth possessed rings of the same proportions to our planet that Saturn’s are to it.
Since the most stable place for rings is around a planet’s equator, the appearance of the rings would depend on the latitude you are located at on the world’s surface. For instance, near the equator at Quito, Ecuador, you would see the rings from edge on, so they would look like a thin line rising straight up from the horizon.
So…would the rings change the climate?