Mars might have early signs of rings

摘要

IN A few million years, Mars's gravity will shred its moon Phobos, the pieces settling into a flat ring like those around Saturn. But bits of the Red Planet's two moons may already be circling it, partly in the form of nascent rings. Astronomers have long thought that Mars could be encircled by rings made of bits of rock kicked up from its moons Phobos and Deimos, but no one had ever seen them. This may be because the rings lie in planes not easily viewed from Earth or space telescopes - or because they aren't there at all.