Saturn Ring Equinox Temperature Variations Retrieved by Cassini CIRS

Details Saturn Ring Equinox Temperature Variations Retrieved by Cassini CIRS Saturn Ring Equinox Temperature Variations Retrieved by Cassini CIRS

Dec 2010

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2010agufm.p23b1630s&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2010, abstract #P23B-1630

Physics

[5465] Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets / Rings And Dust, [6265] Planetary Sciences: Solar System Objects / Planetary Rings, [6275] Planetary Sciences: Solar System Objects / Saturn

Scientific paper

As the sun traversed from the south to north side of Saturn’s main rings during equinox, Cassini’s Composite infrared spectrometer (CIRS) retrieved the ring temperatures on both sides of the rings. At equinox the solar input is negligible and the primary heat sources for the rings are Saturn thermal and visible energy. As equinox approached, the main rings cooled to their lowest temperatures measured to date. The ring temperatures at equinox were: C ring, 55-75 K; B ring, 45-60 K; Cassini Division, 45 - 58 K; and A ring, 43 - 52 K. Saturn heating dominates the equinox geometry, contrasted to earlier in the mission when the primary heat source is light from the sun. Equinox temperatures are almost identical for similar geometries on the north and south sides of the main rings. Overall, the ring temperatures decrease with increasing distance from the planet as expected but each ring displays a slightly different behavior. The C ring temperatures vary slightly with the Saturn local time on the particle while the temperatures for the densest part of the B ring do not appear to vary with changing Saturn local time. This research was carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under contract with NASA and at CEA Saclay supported by the CNES and CEA. Copyright 2010 California Institute of Technology. Government sponsorship acknowledged.

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