Earth may have had a giant ring of space rocks surrounding it, similar to those around Saturn, which could have led to chaotic meteorite strikes on our planet’s surface, new research suggests.
The hypothesized ring may have formed roughly 466 million years ago and was the remains of a gigantic asteroid tugged apart by Earth’s tidal forces after passing our planet’s Roche limit.
Casting a shadow across Earth’s equator, the ring may have contributed to a global cooling event by blocking sunlight, while bombarding the surface with meteorites. The researchers published their findings Sept. 16 in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters.
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