# A neat short video. The view from various spots on Earth, if we had a Saturn like Ring system. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 21, 2009, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-neat-short-video-the-view-from-various-spots-on-earth-if-we-had-a-saturn-like-ring-system/518384 "2009-11-21T07:06:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-neat-short-video-the-view-from-various-spots-on-earth-if-we-had-a-saturn-like-ring-system/518384/41 "2009-11-24T21:45:47Z")
Yeah, that seems like a pretty wide swath. Thanks for doing the math on this. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-neat-short-video-the-view-from-various-spots-on-earth-if-we-had-a-saturn-like-ring-system/518384/42 "2009-11-24T22:47:40Z")
> [@Olentzero](#): > > So an Earth ring system proportional to Saturn’s would pretty much cover everything except a small band around the equator and the Arctic circle? Forget life, this planet’s frozen. Well, no, not necessarily. For one thing, you’d only be in darkness for a portion of the day, I think. And it’d only be for part of a season, so the half that’s in summer could heat the half that’s not (I think). The springs and summers would have a negligible effect on us. Secondly, the ring is very, very thin. On saturn, it’s only 10 meters thick! So on Earth, it’d be roughly a meter wide. Perhaps that’s not thick enough to block much light anyway. And when the tip of the shadow comes near you, you’d get a massive rainbow effect. The ‘shadow’ would really be the sun disappearing behind the very tip of the rings. This might not cause darkness, but instead a brilliant color display as the sun moves across different ice chunks. Imagine a giant disco ball in the sky! ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-neat-short-video-the-view-from-various-spots-on-earth-if-we-had-a-saturn-like-ring-system/518384/43 "2009-11-24T23:34:59Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > ISTR a character in **Ringworld** doing exactly that, going in search of the base of the “Arch” and never finding it. Yes, his name was Seeker and he became Teela’s new love interest. But in the next volume, Teela tells how they found the Control Center and tree-of-life, which killed Seeker as he was too old to become a protector; which explains whywe never see him again. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-neat-short-video-the-view-from-various-spots-on-earth-if-we-had-a-saturn-like-ring-system/518384/44 "2009-11-25T13:54:49Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > Secondly, the ring is very, very thin. On saturn, it’s only 10 meters thick! So on Earth, it’d be roughly a meter wide. Perhaps that’s not thick enough to block much light anyway. The animation shows a pretty dark shadow cast on the Earth, much in the same way we see shadows on Saturn. But maybe you’re right, it might not block any more sunlight than cloud cover, which certainly doesn’t throw us into a deep freeze. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-neat-short-video-the-view-from-various-spots-on-earth-if-we-had-a-saturn-like-ring-system/518384/45 "2009-11-25T13:57:14Z")
But with cloud cover, the sunlight is still reaching the atmosphere. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2009, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-neat-short-video-the-view-from-various-spots-on-earth-if-we-had-a-saturn-like-ring-system/518384/46 "2009-11-26T15:07:14Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > That animation proves something I’d suspected for a long time: a ringed Earth would be the most awesome thing possible. How 'bout a ringed Earth with _dinosaurs_? ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2009, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-neat-short-video-the-view-from-various-spots-on-earth-if-we-had-a-saturn-like-ring-system/518384/47 "2009-11-26T15:44:03Z")
ringed Earth with dinosaurs topped with _chocolate sprinkles_! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-neat-short-video-the-view-from-various-spots-on-earth-if-we-had-a-saturn-like-ring-system/518384.md?page=2)