I get the explanation that they have gravity and things are attracted, but why is it in a ring rather than a sphere? why do things from one AXIS get attracted but not from other?
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Centrifigul force.
Hold a piece of string in your hand and start spinning your hand around. Does it move in a sphere around your hand or does it spin in a circle.
Or think of a playground merry-go-round.. when it spins the kids on the ride get pushed outward from the center of rotation the faster it goes.
Astronomical bodies like planets, stars, black holes, etc are usually spinning (for various reasons). Some spin fairly quickly and drag the debris in space around them like a merry go round or your hand spinning a string… the debris tends to flatten out and collect like a ring around the object. Like Saturn has rings of rocks and ice.
While it is very possible for objects to spin around an orbit that is not on the central axis of the main body… it is less likely. Pluto is slightly off axis. On Earth.. many satellites are artificially orbiting off axis.
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