Astronomers uncover surprising new phenomenon on Saturn after 40 years of data.

Astronomers have discovered that the infall of icy debris from Saturn's rings is heating up the planet's upper atmosphere. The phenomenon was observed by analyzing UV radiation emitted from hydrogen atoms and comparing data collected from the Hubble Space Telescope with archival data taken from four historical spacecraft. The increased levels of Lyman-alpha UV radiation were traced to Saturn's atmosphere, and the most plausible explanation is that the icy particles in Saturn's rings are crashing down onto Saturn's atmosphere, causing it to heat up. This discovery could provide astronomers with a new way to look for ring systems on exoplanets.