Computer Science – Sound
Scientific paper
May 2010
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2010dda....41.1106b&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, DDA meeting #41, #11.06; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 41, p.940
Computer Science
Sound
Scientific paper
Propeller-shaped brightness features observed in Saturn's A ring are density disturbances, usually thought to be induced by gravity. Embedded masses larger than tens of meters disturb the smooth Keplerian shear of typical small ring particles (cm to m in radius) sufficiently to be visible in Cassini images. Instead we investigate whether propeller formation could be solely a collisional phenomenon involving the collisional energy dissipation, moon-to-particle size ratio, and the initial areal fractional coverage. Our two-dimensional, event-driven molecular dynamics simulation, which is carried out within Hill's equations and ignores gravity between the moon and the particles, develops "propeller-like” structures. We argue that the relatively low agitation and density of ring material is responsible for a low sound speed, resulting in predominantly supersonic flow of ring particles relative to the moon. In this framework, "propellers” are viewed as the locus of a granular shock, analogous to shocks in compressible gases, across which the ring material experiences significant changes in density, velocity, pressure, and the analog of temperature. We model these changes analytically and through numerical simulations to determine the propeller's size. We anticipate that inferences about the embedded objects will change with this different model.
Burns Joseph A.
Jenkins James T.
Lawney B. P.
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