Saturn: Search for a Missing Water Source

Details Saturn: Search for a Missing Water Source Saturn: Search for a Missing Water Source

May 2002

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2002agusm.p52a..06j&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Spring Meeting 2002, abstract #P52A-06

Physics

2756 Planetary Magnetospheres (5443, 5737, 6030), 5759 Rings And Dust, 6062 Satellites, 6275 Saturn, 6280 Saturnian Satellites

Scientific paper

The discovery of a dense molecular cloud around Saturn radically altered our view of that region. The toroidal cloud presumably consists of water-group neutrals (H2O, OH, O, H, O2, H2), which slowly orbit Saturn until they are dissociated to form plasma ions and electrons. This thick neutral cloud, with peak OH number densities exceding 1000/cm3, indicates the presence of a strong water-vapour source. A significant neutral population above the icy rings of Saturn was hypothesized earlier but never observed. Instead, the large OH population was found further out between the orbits of Enceladus and Dione, raising an intriguing question: are the Main rings the principal source, and if not, where are all these neutrals coming from? We present a new set of Hubble Space Telescope (HST) measurements; these data are used to model spatial density profiles of the OH cloud and pinpoint the water source. Enhanced OH densities are observed in the E-ring region where a large orbital collision between two ice blocks occured a year prior to HST observations. As we show here, the water source must be significantly larger than current theory predicts to maintain these neutral densities, further exacerbating the problem of a 'missing' water source near Saturn. Our model includes the effects of plasma chemistry, plasma-neutral, and neutral-neutral collisions to determine the dynamical evolution of the water group neutrals in Saturn's magnetosphere. We show that momentum transfer from these processes results in a rapid net diffusion of the neutral cloud from the source region. Our model indicates that the vast majority of the water produced may originate from a narrow area in the E-ring. This indicates possible presence of a population of small, as of yet unseen bodies concentrated near Enceladus' orbit. The work is supported by NASA Planetary Atmospheres grant to MIT.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

Saturn: Search for a Missing Water Source does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Saturn: Search for a Missing Water Source, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Saturn: Search for a Missing Water Source will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1721976