Cindy Masson, age 8, of Conley, Georgia, for tier question:

Are Saturn's rims made of rock or gas?

If you own a beginner's telescope, you are one of the lucky ones. Test it on the moon until you can focus it on the round craters. Then find out when and just where Saturn will shine in the sky. Train your telescope on its shining globe    and you will see the beauteous ring around its waist. Actually, there are three rings blended together. And looking at them you feel sure that they are made of pure gold, polished to sparkling brilliance.

But astronomers tell us that this is not so. They tell us that Saturn's rings are made from zillions of tiny fragments. It takes about ten of them to measure one inch, though some are larger and some are smaller. We are so far away that nobody can be too certain. But most of the experts think that the solid little fragments are either bits of ice or particles of dust covered with ice. Saturn's rings sparkle like gold because their zillions of glassy fragments reflect the golden glory of the sun.