Are Saturn’s Rings Melting?

A glorious new image of Saturn was captured by the Cassini spacecraft last month, but for those with a sharp eye will see that two of the planet's rings appear to be warping strangely.

Bent rings? A lens effect from Saturn's atmosphere appears to warp them: https://t.co/1wxkLl2Ki1 @CassiniSaturn pic.twitter.com/GPPsZOAtGY

— NASA (@NASA) July 25, 2016

There is no cause for panic, though. According to Science Alert, there is nothing that is messing up the planet's rings. What can be seen is an optical illusion in space, which makes it that much cooler. Although it seems that the A and F rings are bending, the image is actually due to the atmosphere of the planet acting like large lenses.

Saturn's rings actually reflect a huge amount of light and absorb more of it than any of the stars around them - explaining why there are also never any stars near the planet in any of its photos.

This is why the photo of the rings look warped, despite the fact that Saturn's rings are actually straight and flat.

Although the image released by Cassini spacecraft looked like it was taken close-up, the spacecraft was actually 1.1 million miles away, highlighting the largeness of the planet. Putting it in perspective, Express UK noted that it actually means that each pixel in the image represents seven miles.

The spacecraft is an unmanned ship sent to take images of Saturn and was launched in 1997, reaching orbit in 2004. Since then, it has taken numerous images of the ringed planet, even learning that the rings were made of dust, rock, and ice, and can range massively in its size - from as small as a grain of sand, to a large skyscraper.

Today, the Cassini Spacecraft is completing its second extended mission, called the Cassini Solstice Mission that will last until September next year.