To keep the file size of this animation down to a reasonable level for web delivery, it has been shrunk in size from the original. As a result, the labels may be a bit difficult to read, but any animation you would generate directly with The Digital Universe and not shrink afterwards as we had to do would not suffer from this effect. Due to the orientation of Saturn, its orbit, and the orbit of the Earth, we see different aspects of its ring system at different times. Sometimes the rings will dominate the appearance of the planet, and other times they'll be edge on and nearly invisible. This animation shows how the ring system of Saturn changes in orientation over a 10 year period.
Several effects are visible.
With a relatively short period, you will see Saturn appearing bigger and smaller fairly regularly. This is due to the Earth's orbit bringing it closer and further away from the planet over a period of about a year. Also with the same period, you will notice relatively small changes in the ring's orientation. This is caused by the Earth's orbital plane being a bit different from Saturn's. You will also see a more gradual change in orientation from the rings being very visible near the beginning of the animation to edge on towards the end.