Nasa's Spitzer Space Telescope discovers Giant Ring around Saturn

Nasa's Spitzer Space Telescope has discovered the biggest but never-before-seen ring around the planet Saturn.

Jet Propulsion Laboratory said the ring lies at the far reaches of the Saturnian system and its orbit is tilted 27 degrees from the planet's main ring plane.

The ring is made of a thin array of ice and dust particles.

JPL spokeswoman Whitney Clavin said the ring is very diffuse and does not reflect much visible light but the infrared Spitzer telescope was able to detect it.

Although the ring dust is very cold - minus 316 degrees Fahrenheit - it shines with thermal radiation.

The bulk of the ring material starts about 3.7 million miles from the planet and extends outward about another 7.4 million miles.