Saturn's rings are younger than previously thought, being born 100 million years ago when the last dinosaurs were dying out on Earth, according to a study led by Rome's Sapienza University and funded by the Italian Space Agency, published in the Science journal. The study is based on data captured by the Cassini probe in its dive into the planet's atmosphere that ended the NASA, European Space Agency (ESA) and ASI mission.

Saturn's rings are, therefore, much younger than their planet, which was formed around 4.5 billion years ago. "With these data we have found the last piece of the puzzle," said Luciano Iess from Sapienza's mechanical and aerospace engineering department, who coordinated the study with Daniele Durante and Paolo Racioppa. The measurement of the mass of the rings is the last piece of the puzzle which has just been found.