Stargazers will be unable to see Saturn's rings in two years' time when they become 'invisible', NASA reports.

Scientists at the American space agency say an 'equinox' event will cause the planet's massive rings to disappear before our eyes.

Although Saturn's rings are 175,000 miles wide, they are only over half a mile thick, and when Saturn 'tilts' in alignment with Earth, the rings appear to vanish.

Saturn's rings will be visible again in the next phase of the planet's 29-year orbit when it tilts back toward Earth, reports the Mirror. The planet's rings can only be seen from Earth for a few years at a time before disappearing from our point of view.

However, scientists believe the rings, which are made up of ice, rocky debris and dust, may be gone forever in 300 million years due to the process of erosion. The rings are thought to have formed when dinosaurs roamed the Earth, but will suffer a 'quick death' says a former NASA scientist.

Dr James O’Donoghue said in April: "We’re still trying to figure out exactly how fast they are eroding. Currently, research suggests the rings will only be part of Saturn for another few hundred million years. This may sound like a long time, but in the history of the universe this is a relatively quick death." He continued: "We could be very lucky to be around at a time when the rings exist."

Saturn, a 'gas giant' planet like Jupiter, is the sixth-furthest from the sun in our Solar System. It is about 886 million miles from the sun, and about 793 million miles from Earth. It is also about nine-and-a-half times bigger than Earth.

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