Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Sep 1990
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1990georl..17.1741c&link_type=abstract
Geophysical Research Letters (ISSN 0094-8276), vol. 17, Sept. 1990, p. 1741-1744.
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
36
Astronomical Models, Neptune (Planet), Planetary Rings, Uranus (Planet), Voyager 2 Spacecraft, Cosmic Dust, Neptune Satellites, Regolith
Scientific paper
Voyager 2 images of the Neptunian ring system show it to be relatively dusty with the fraction of micron-sized dust particles in the rings between about 0.2 and 0.7 (Smith et al., 1989). This paper applies a numerical model developed for the Uranus dust bands to the Neptune system. The results show the following: (1) the suggested bimodal distribution of dust fractions in the rings is not related to ring optical depth and may be due to different ring particle size distributions, (2) collision velocities between the macroscopic ring particles must be about 1 m/sec if they are to produce dust fractions above 1/2, (3) the small moons of Neptune must have regoliths for meteoroid excavation to produce the dust population at Voyager ring plane crossing, and (4) dust optical depths interior to 1989N3R are negligible unless there are unseen macroscopic source bodies in that region.
Colwell Joshua E.
Esposito W. L. W. L.
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