Frontiers in Planetary Rings Science
Abstract
We now know that the outer solar system is host to at least six diverse planetary ring systems, each of which is a scientifically compelling target with the potential to inform us about the evolution, history and even the internal structure of the body it adorns. These diverse ring systems represent a set of distinct local laboratories for understanding the physics and dynamics of planetary disks, with applications reaching beyond our Solar System. We highlight the current status of planetary rings science and the open questions before the community to promote continued Earth-based and spacecraft-based investigations into planetary rings. As future spacecraft missions are launched and more powerful telescopes come online in the decades to come, we urge NASA for continued support of investigations that advance our understanding of planetary rings, through research and analysis of data from existing facilities, more laboratory work and specific attention to strong rings science goals during future mission selections.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2008.12418,
title = {Frontiers in Planetary Rings Science},
author = {Shawn M. Brooks and Tracy M. Becker and K. Baillié and H. N. Becker and E. T. Bradley and J. E. Colwell and J. N. Cuzzi and I. de Pater and S. Eckert and M. El Moutamid and S. G. Edgington and P. R. Estrada and M. W. Evans and A. Flandes and R. G. French and Á. García and M. K. Gordon and M. M. Hedman and H. -W. Hsu and R. G. Jerousek and E. A. Marouf and B. K. Meinke and P. D. Nicholson and S. H. Pilorz and M. R. Showalter and L. J. Spilker and H. B. Throop and M. S. Tiscareno},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2008.12418},
year = {2020}
}