Origin and evolution of the Saturn system

As was the case for Jupiter, Saturn formed either as a result of a gas instability within the solar nebula or the accretion of a solid core that induced an instability within the surrounding solar nebula. In either case, the proto-planet's history is divided into three major stages: early, quasi-hydrostatic evolution (stage 1); hydrodynamical collapse (stage 2); and late, quasi-hydrostatic contraction (stage 3). During stage 1, Saturn had a radius of several hundred times that of its present radius, R(s), while stage 3 began when Saturn had a radius of 3.5 R(s). Stages 1 and 2 lasted one-million to 10-million years and one year, respectively, while stage 3 is continuing through the present epoch. During the early history of the Saturn system, giant impact events may have catastrophically disrupted most of the original satellites of Saturn. Such disruption, followed by reaccretion, may be responsible, in part for the occurrence of Trojans and co-orbital moons in the Saturn system, the apparent presence of a stochastic component in the trend of satellite density with radial distance, and the present population of ring particles.