Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Sep 2008
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2008dps....40.2104m&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #40, #21.04; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 40, p.423
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
Recently, several faint ringlets in the Saturnian ring system were found to have particular orientation relative to the Sun. The Encke Gap ringlets as well as the ringlet in the outer rift of the Cassini division were found to have distinct spatial displacement of several tens of kilometers away from Saturn toward Sun.
We investigate the dynamics of circumplanetary dust particles with sizes in the range of 1-100 microns. These small particles are strongly perturbed by non-gravitational forces as solar radiation pressure and planetary oblateness on short time-scales. The combined influence of these forces causes periodical evolution of grains' orbital eccentricity and precession of pericenter. We show that this interaction results in a stationary eccentric ringlet oriented with its apocenter toward the Sun, which is consistent with observational findings. In conjunction with this heliotropic dynamics, we can give a limit for the expected smallest grain size in the Encke Gap of about 10 microns.
The results of our analytical theory were compared with numerical simulations. We trace the trajectories of a dust grains created by impact ejecta mechanism from a parent bodies. We estimate lifetimes for the ringlet particles which are mainly limited by collisions with the dense rings and the source bodies. Modeling the equilibrium between particle sources and sinks we find the resulting strength of the source flux which is expected to be observed in the ringlet. Our analytical as well as numerical results indicate, that Pan is a very inefficient source for the main ringlet in the Encke Gap.
We propose the main ringlet to be maintained by embedded moonlets with size of hundreds of meters placed on stable orbits in the central ringlet region. These embedded moonlets might also play a role in forming the azimuthal variations in optical depth of the Encke Gap ringlets.
Flassig R. J.
Makuch Martin
Schmidt Jonas
Seiss Martin
Spahn Frank
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