Earth and Saturn might be a lot more similar than previously thought. In a new study, a team of researchers suggests that 466 million years ago, a ring system made up of asteroid remnants may have surrounded our planet,

The new study asserts that Earth's ring formed around 466 million years ago, and stuck around for around 40 million years before dissipating. Researchers say that the existence of such a ring would help solve several puzzles from Earth's past and that much of the data they collected supports its existence.

Earth may have had a Saturn-like ring system long ago, created from the debris of a passing asteroid that our planet tore apart.

Researchers have found evidence suggesting that our planet may have once had a ring system around 466 million years ago.

The ring could have blocked sunlight on earth by casting a shadow on the surface of the planet, contributing to a significant global cooling event

Earth may have had rings. At least that's what a new study published this month claims. Here's what we know so far.

A weird number of craters are located close to the equator, and the odds that this is random are incredibly low, researchers say.

“Over millions of years, material from this ring gradually fell to Earth, creating the spike in meteorite impacts observed in the geological record,” said Tomkins in a statement that accompanied the paper’s release. “We … see that layers in sedimentary rocks from this period contain extraordinary amounts of meteorite debris.”

The rings of Saturn are among the most famous and spectacular features in the solar system. Earth may once have had something similar.

C ould Earth once have had a planetary ring like the ones around Saturn? Scientists from Monash University in Australia think so. In a recent paper they identify 450m-year-old craters that lie close to Earth’s historical equator.