Moonlets and Clumps in Saturn's F Ring

Details Moonlets and Clumps in Saturn's F Ring Moonlets and Clumps in Saturn's F Ring

Oct 2007

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2007dps....39.1006m&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #39, #10.06; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 39, p.426

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Scientific paper

Cassini UVIS star occultations by the F ring reveal 13 events ranging in size from 30m to 1.4km in radial extent. Using a search method that requires ring features to be of a certain optical depth and statistical significance, we have identified features displaying common characteristics that allow us to classify them. Two features appear to be a highly peaked central F ring core, while another is an exceptionally wide and optically thick core. Most features (9 of 13 features) are observed to be sharp increases in optical depth in comparison to the surrounding occultation profile. We also observe an opaque feature with sharp edges in the occultation profile, our best moonlet candidate.
When we extrapolate the number of observed features to the entire F ring, the size distribution does not match the modeled moonlet size distribution in the F ring (Barbara and Esposito 2002). Because Barbara and Esposito (2002) assumed solid moonlet-like bodies in their model, the one observed opaque feature may be consistent with their model. We explore how opacity and shape differences among the observed features may be related to the porosities of aggregates in the F ring.
This research was supported by the Cassini Project.
Barbara, J. M., and L. W. Esposito. 2002. Moonlet collisions and the effects of tidally modified accretion in Saturn's F ring. Icarus, 160, 161-171.

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