Arcs and clumps in the Encke division of Saturn's rings

Details Arcs and clumps in the Encke division of Saturn's rings Arcs and clumps in the Encke division of Saturn's rings

Sep 1997

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1997p%26ss...45.1051f&link_type=abstract

Planetary and Space Science, Volume 45, Issue 9, p. 1051-1067.

Physics

2

Scientific paper

Voyager images of the two narrow ringlets located in the Encke division of Saturn's A ring have been systematically analyzed. Arcs with sharp edges are spread over 70° +/- 30° in azimuth in the central ringlet and over 150° +/- 40° in the inner ringlet. At high resolution, the arcs are made of clumps which may be associated with unresolved kilometer-sized objects. The photometric data from the arcs yield an average optical depth of 0.2 +/- 0.1 and a large dust fraction (80% +/- 20%). The dust particles are probably quite small (<0.1 μm). The Encke arcs are very clumpy and dusty like the arcs around Neptune. The origin of these arcs may be explained by a population of moonlets large enough to persist over the age of the solar system in spite of erosion and to replenish the ringlets with material.

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