Rings of Jupiter Rings of Jupiter The planet Jupiter has a system of rings known as the rings of Jupiter or the Jovian ring system. It was the third ring system to be discovered in the Solar System, after those of Saturn and Uranus. It was first observed in 1979 by the "Voyager 1" space probe and thoroughly investigated in the 1990s by the "Galileo" orbiter. It has also been observed by the Hubble Space Telescope and from Earth for several years. Ground-based observations of the rings require the largest available telescopes. The Jovian ring system is faint and consists mainly of dust.
Centaur (minor planet) evolve into Jupiter-crossing orbits whereupon their perihelia may become reduced into the inner Solar System and they may be reclassified as active comets in the Jupiter family if they display cometary activity. Centaurs will thus ultimately collide with the Sun or a planet or else they may be ejected into interstellar space after a close approach to one of the planets, particularly Jupiter. The relatively small size of centaurs precludes remote observation of surfaces, but colour indices and spectra can provide clues about surface composition and insight into the origin of the bodies. The colours of centaurs are very diverse,