Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
May 2008
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2008dda....39.1513o&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, DDA meeting #39, #15.13
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
Viscosity in planetary rings arises from collisional and gravitational interactions between constituent particles. Angular momentum is transferred mainly through mutual collisions and gravitational encounters when the optical depth of the ring is low, while the formation of gravitational wakes significantly enhances the viscosity in dense rings (Daisaka, Tanaka, Ida 2001, Icarus 154, 296). On the basis of the formulation derived by Tanaka, Ohtsuki, and Daisaka (2003, Icarus 161, 144) and using analytic calculation, three-body orbital integration and N-body simulation, we investigate viscosity in self-gravitating planetary rings, both with and without the effect of particle spins. In the case of rings with low optical depth, we confirmed agreement between results of three-body calculation and N-body simulation. When the optical depth is low and the effect of particles' mutual gravity is weak, particles' surface friction with a reasonable range of a friction parameter tends to reduce their random velocity and, consequently, viscosity as well. However, in dense rings with gravitational wakes, the effect of self-gravity is dominant. We obtain ring viscosity for a wide range of parameter values, and derive an approximate expression which reproduces our numerical results. This work was supported by NASA's Outer Planets Research Program and the Cassini Project.
Daisaka Hiroshi
Ohtsuki Keiji
Tanaka Hajime
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