Size of Particles and Clumps in Saturnian Rings Inferred from Cassini UVIS Occultations

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy

Scientific paper

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

Scientific paper

The multiple Cassini UVIS stellar occultations reveal the Saturnian rings with an unprecedented resolution. Here we present a new formalism for the explanation of the statistical properties of the occultation data. The observed variance of the occultation data of the rings is clearly above the Poisson prediction, and we show that the difference is related to either largest particles or the ring microstructures or both. The analysis of the UVIS occulatation data for Saturn's A ring gives the characteristic size between few and dozen of meters with a clear maximum in the middle of A ring. The difference in multiple UVIS occulation profiles can only be reconciled with Saturn's A ring containing numerous microstructures or ephemeral agglomerations of particles. Together with analysis of the optical depth variations in UVIS occultation profiles under different observation geometries leads us to a conclusion that the A ring consists of Toomre type self-gravity wakes.

No associations

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for scientists and scientific papers. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

Size of Particles and Clumps in Saturnian Rings Inferred from Cassini UVIS Occultations does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Size of Particles and Clumps in Saturnian Rings Inferred from Cassini UVIS Occultations, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Size of Particles and Clumps in Saturnian Rings Inferred from Cassini UVIS Occultations will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1244848

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.