Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
May 2008
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2008dda....39.1605h&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, DDA meeting #39, #16.05
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
The shape of the particle size distribution in Saturn's main rings has implications both for dynamical modeling of behavior within the rings, such as self-gravity wakes, and in re-accretion models of material produced by interplanetary impacts. However, previous attempts to study the sub-centimeter size distribution of ring particles have been hampered both by the paucity of particles below the centimeter scale, and by limitations in observational techniques. With the Cassini spacecraft in Saturn orbit, solar occultations by the rings can be measured using the Visual-Infrared Mapping Spectrometer. The large signal from the Sun and milliradian angular resolution in the near-infrared (1 to 5 microns) supplied by VIMS allows a direct measurement to be made of light forward-scattered from any millimeter-sized particles in the rings. Given the wavelength range and angular resolution of VIMS, and the angular size of the Sun at Saturn's distance, particles larger than one centimeter will predominantly forward-scatter into angles too small to be separated from the solar image itself, making these observations most sensitive to smaller particles. We will provide data from several solar occultations, at ring opening angles ranging from 9 to 21 degrees. After subtracting a template based on images of the unocculted sun, we've searched for scattered light signals due to such particles. A small, but potentially significant, signal is seen, which requires further work to confirm, and quantify in terms of the particle-size distribution.
Cassini Vims Team
Harbison Rebecca A.
Nicholson Philip D.
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