Why does Saturn have rings?

Saturn has rings because broken pieces of ice and rock are circling the planet. Long ago, a moon, comet, or other space rubble may have come too near; Saturn's gravity pulled it apart, and the fragments kept orbiting instead of dropping straight in.

The bright shine comes mostly from water ice, which catches sunlight and sends it toward our telescopes. The rings look smooth from far away, but close up they are more like a crowded swarm, with specks, chunks, and boulder-sized bits traveling on their own paths.