Sunlight Through Saturns Rings . ... Arizona ), and, NASA Explanation: Normally, earth-bound astronomers view Saturn's spectacular ring system fully illuminated by reflected sunlight. ... The three bright ring features are visible because the rings themselves are not solid. Composed of many separate chunks of rocky, icy material, the rings allow the scattered sunlight to pass through them -- offering a dramatic demonstration that they are not continuous, uninterrupted bands of material. ...