<p>The first star having rings seems to have been discovered in the late '90 by You-Hua Chu (University of Illinois). In <em>Cosmic Catastrophes: Exploding Stars, Black Holes, and Mapping the Universe</em>, <a href="https://www.as.utexas.edu/~wheel/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Craig Wheeler</a> wrote (in 2007):</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>[You-Hua Chu] scored another coup a decade later, at a meeting in Chile to
  celebrate the tenth anniversary of the discovery of the supernova,
  when she reported that she had discovered the first star to have rings
  around it, like the progenitor of SN 1987A.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>SN 1987A was a supernovae that exploded in 1987. The progenitor (the star that actually exploded), Sk-69 20, was a blue supergiant. <a href="http://chem.tufts.edu/science/astronomy/sn1987a.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Pictures taken from Hubble showed three rings</a>:</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/Yl79z.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/Yl79z.jpg" alt="SN 1987A"></a></p>

<p>This video shows the lightning effect of the explosion on the inner ring from 1994 to 2016, that is, 7 to 29 years <em>after</em> the explosion (the ring is a few light years across while the most rapidly moving outer portions of the exploded star are moving at least at 10 percent of the speed of light - source: same book, p. 136).</p>

<p><a href="http://hubblesite.org/videos/news/release/2017-08" rel="nofollow noreferrer">This time-lapse video sequence of Hubble Space Telescope images reveals dramatic changes in a ring of material around the exploded star Supernova 1987A</a>.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-08-19T17:35:49.627Z
2018-08-22T15:09:59.600Z
2018-08-22T15:09:59.600Z
Sylvain Rodrigue
<p>They certainly can. A ring is often formed around a celestial body when its gravity rips apart another smaller celestial body. The Sun is really massive, so it could destroy any object that is not dense enough. Just Google about the Roche Limit for more informations (and better explanations). </p>

<p>Now, take a look at our solar system : You have the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, and you also have the Kuiper belt beyond Neptune. Would you consider these being rings ? They sure are not as smooth as Saturn's, but to my mind, they still are rings.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-12-21T13:42:54.740Z
Im pretty sure they are classed as rings - considering they are shaped around the sun like a ring.
Featherball
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-12-21T14:14:19.337Z
I also think they are rings. But I wouldn't consider the Oort cloud being a ring.
Nico
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-12-21T16:12:40.310Z
Well but at the same time these were surely not created by ripping of some planet because otherwise Mercury would be ripped to pieces
Vojta Klimes
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-12-21T16:14:36.720Z
@VojtaKlimes : Mercury would not be destroyed because it has the right density to be above the Sun's Roche Limit. However, I agree with you on the fact that the asteroid belt is not made of broken planets. It is rather rocks that CANNOT agregate together because of Jupiter's gravity pull.
Nico
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-12-21T22:25:21.027Z
These are quantitatively different to Saturn's rings. The asteroid belt has a spread of inclinations of 20 degrees or so; many are in eccentric orbits. The Kuiper belt is flatter, but still nowhere near as flat as Saturn's rings.
ProfRob
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-12-22T07:56:52.387Z
@RobJeffries absolutely. I remember reading somewhere that at some places the rings of Saturn are like 3 meters large at most. Source needed though.
Nico
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-12-22T11:51:58.853Z
@Nico Yeah, you are probably right, did not thought of that
Vojta Klimes
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-12-22T12:56:18.607Z
@VojtaKlimes : Related ;) http://astronomy.stackexchange.com/questions/12723/why-does-saturn-have-both-moons-and-rings?rq=1
Nico
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-08-19T21:07:58.163Z
Our sun would quickly evaporate and disburse anything inside it's Roche limit.   Higher melting point objects tend to be denser and would have Roche limits closer to the sun.   Any element would be a gas at it's solar Roche limit and once a gas, it would disburse not coalesce into a ring. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poynting%E2%80%93Robertson_effect  A less massive, colder sun or perhaps a white dwarf might maintain a ring a bit longer.
userLTK
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-12-21T10:40:59.147Z
2015-12-21T16:21:42.007Z
2015-12-21T16:21:42.007Z
Nico
<p>I often hear about planetary ring systems, and even some moons might have them, but how about stars? Can a star also have rings?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-12-21T10:14:58.600Z
Would you be willing to call [the asteroid belt](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asteroid_belt) the Sun's ring system?
pela
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-12-21T21:53:02.517Z
Most or all of the planetary ring systems we know about are within the planet's Roche limit. A star could have a ring of debris within its Roche limit, but it would probably be destroyed fairly quickly by light pressure and stellar wind. (The asteroid belt and the Kuiper belt as *far* outside the Sun's Roche limit.)
Keith Thompson
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-08-22T17:34:32.157Z
Related: https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/a/17885/6
called2voyage
<star><planetary-ring>
Can a star have a ring system?
Gstestso
# Can a star have a ring system?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2015-12-21)

I often hear about planetary ring systems, and even some moons might have them, but how about stars? Can a star also have rings?

**Tags:** star, planetary-ring
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Would you be willing to call [the asteroid belt](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asteroid_belt) the Sun's ring system?  
> **username_2**: Most or all of the planetary ring systems we know about are within the planet's Roche limit. A star could have a ring of debris within its Roche limit, but it would probably be destroyed fairly quickly by light pressure and stellar wind. (The asteroid belt and the Kuiper belt as *far* outside the Sun's Roche limit.)  
> **username_3**: Related: https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/a/17885/6  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_5 on 2015-12-21. Score: 11 | Accepted answer

They certainly can. A ring is often formed around a celestial body when its gravity rips apart another smaller celestial body. The Sun is really massive, so it could destroy any object that is not dense enough. Just Google about the Roche Limit for more informations (and better explanations).

Now, take a look at our solar system : You have the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, and you also have the Kuiper belt beyond Neptune. Would you consider these being rings ? They sure are not as smooth as Saturn's, but to my mind, they still are rings.

> **Comments:**
> **username_6**: Im pretty sure they are classed as rings - considering they are shaped around the sun like a ring.  
> **username_5**: I also think they are rings. But I wouldn't consider the Oort cloud being a ring.  
> **username_7**: Well but at the same time these were surely not created by ripping of some planet because otherwise Mercury would be ripped to pieces  
> **username_5**: @VojtaKlimes : Mercury would not be destroyed because it has the right density to be above the Sun's Roche Limit. However, I agree with you on the fact that the asteroid belt is not made of broken planets. It is rather rocks that CANNOT agregate together because of Jupiter's gravity pull.  
> **username_8**: These are quantitatively different to Saturn's rings. The asteroid belt has a spread of inclinations of 20 degrees or so; many are in eccentric orbits. The Kuiper belt is flatter, but still nowhere near as flat as Saturn's rings.  
> **username_5**: @RobJeffries absolutely. I remember reading somewhere that at some places the rings of Saturn are like 3 meters large at most. Source needed though.  
> **username_7**: @Nico Yeah, you are probably right, did not thought of that  
> **username_5**: @VojtaKlimes : Related ;) http://astronomy.stackexchange.com/questions/12723/why-does-saturn-have-both-moons-and-rings?rq=1  
> **username_9**: Our sun would quickly evaporate and disburse anything inside it's Roche limit.   Higher melting point objects tend to be denser and would have Roche limits closer to the sun.   Any element would be a gas at it's solar Roche limit and once a gas, it would disburse not coalesce into a ring. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poynting%E2%80%93Robertson_effect  A less massive, colder sun or perhaps a white dwarf might maintain a ring a bit longer.  

---

### Answer by username_4 on 2018-08-19. Score: 3

The first star having rings seems to have been discovered in the late '90 by You-Hua Chu (University of Illinois). In *Cosmic Catastrophes: Exploding Stars, Black Holes, and Mapping the Universe*, [Craig Wheeler](https://www.as.utexas.edu/~wheel/) wrote (in 2007):

> [You-Hua Chu] scored another coup a decade later, at a meeting in Chile to
> celebrate the tenth anniversary of the discovery of the supernova,
> when she reported that she had discovered the first star to have rings
> around it, like the progenitor of SN 1987A.

SN 1987A was a supernovae that exploded in 1987. The progenitor (the star that actually exploded), Sk-69 20, was a blue supergiant. [Pictures taken from Hubble showed three rings](http://chem.tufts.edu/science/astronomy/sn1987a.html):

[![SN 1987A](https://i.sstatic.net/Yl79z.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/Yl79z.jpg)

This video shows the lightning effect of the explosion on the inner ring from 1994 to 2016, that is, 7 to 29 years *after* the explosion (the ring is a few light years across while the most rapidly moving outer portions of the exploded star are moving at least at 10 percent of the speed of light - source: same book, p. 136).

[This time-lapse video sequence of Hubble Space Telescope images reveals dramatic changes in a ring of material around the exploded star Supernova 1987A](http://hubblesite.org/videos/news/release/2017-08).


---

