Future observations of planetary rings from groundbased observatories and earth-orbiting satellites

Three of the outer planets of our solar system are known to possess ring systems and, among the three known systems, all have one or more components that are detectable from the vicinity of the earth. Among the more promising methods for continuing study are direct imaging and occultations, obtainable both from the ground and from earth-orbiting facilities such as Space Telescope. Relevant future observations made from the vicinity of earth are expected to provide new knowledge of the dynamical and photometric properties of these outer solar system planetary rings.