Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Sep 2009
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009dps....41.2201h&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #41, #22.01
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
Radio occultations of Saturn's Main Rings by spacecraft provide a good view of the particle size-distribution down to sizes of the order of centimeters (Marouf et al., 1983; Zebker et al., 1985). The lack of optical depth variations between visible and longer wavelengths indicate a lack of micron-sized particles. Between these two regimes, the particle-size distribution is largely unknown. A cutoff where the particle-size distribution turns over must exist, but the position and shape of it is not clear from existing studies.
Using a series of solar occultations, performed by the VIMS instrument on-board Cassini in the near-infrared, we were able to measure light scattered from particles in the A and C rings. With a model of forward-scattering by ring particles, and the previous radio work as a constraint, we could estimate a minimum particle size in a truncated power-law size distribution. The C Ring shows a minimum particle size of 3.5±1.5 mm, with an assumed power law of q=3.1 and maximum particle size of 10 m. The A Ring signal shows similar amounts of raw signal, but modeling is complicated by the presence of self-gravity wakes, violating the assumption of a homogeneous ring.
Cassini Vims Team
Harbison Rebecca A.
Hedman Matthew M.
Nicholson Philip D.
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