Around 466 million years ago, Earth may have had rings similar to those of Saturn.
A study published in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters suggests that these rings might have existed during the Ordovician period, when significant changes occurred in Earth’s structure and plate tectonics due to the impact of asteroids.
Researchers based their hypothesis on the locations of nearly two dozen impact craters, all of which lie within 30 degrees of Earth’s equator. The study indicates that these meteorite fragments could have fallen from rings around the planet.
Professor Andrew Tomkins, a geologist and professor of Earth and planetary sciences at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, stated that the existence of 21 craters relatively close to the equator is statistically unusual. He noted that such impacts should occur randomly, not in clusters.
