Sharp edges of planetary rings

Details Sharp edges of planetary rings Sharp edges of planetary rings

Sep 1982

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1982natur.299..209b&link_type=abstract

Nature, vol. 299, Sept. 16, 1982, p. 209-211. Research supported by the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique

Physics

71

Angular Momentum, Momentum Transfer, Planetary Orbits, Saturn Rings, Uranus Rings, Orbit Calculation, Orbit Perturbation, Orbital Resonances (Celestial Mechanics), Particles, Viscosity, Planets, Rings, Features, Saturn, Uranus, Optical Properties, Orbits, Resonance, Particles, Satellites, Depth, Angular Momentum, Perturbations, Luminosity, Dynamics, Deformation, Velocity, Streamlines, Viscosity

Scientific paper

The ring systems of Saturn and Uranus exhibit several sharp edges, across which the optical depth drops from order unity to essentially zero. At least two and perhaps all of these features are associated with the location of orbital resonances between a satellite and the ring particles. It is remarkable that the optical depth varies on a distance scale which is much finer than that over which angular momentum can be transferred between a satellite and the ring material. The important features of this phenomenon are: (1) a perturbed band of width Delta a/a of about (satellite mass/planetary mass) to the 1/2 power adjacent to the edge within which the angular momentum transfer occurs, (2) streamlines perturbed such that the angular momentum luminosity decreases smoothly across the band to zero at the edge even though the optical depth remains constant, and (3) dynamical equilibrium requires a relation between the random velocity, the rate of deformation and the optical depth.

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