Saturn at Equinox . ... Credit Copyright: Cassini Imaging Team , ISS , JPL , ESA , NASA Explanation: How would Saturn look if its ring plane pointed right at the Sun? ... Every 15 years, as seen from Earth, Saturn's rings point toward the Earth and appear to disappear . The disappearing rings are no longer a mystery -- Saturn's rings are known to be so thin and the Earth is so near the Sun that when the rings point toward the Sun, they also point nearly edge-on at the Earth. ...