Related papers: Formation of a Propeller Structure by a Moonlet in…
Narrow planetary rings are eccentric and inclined. Particles within a given ring must therefore share the same pericenter and node. We solve for the three-dimensional geometries and mass distributions that enable the Uranian Alpha and Beta…
Plasma rotation plays a large role in determining the size and shape of Saturn's disc-like magnetosphere. A magnetosphere more confined to the equator in the polar regions is expected as a result of the interaction between this type of…
Centaurs are minor planets orbiting between Jupiter and Neptune that have or had crossing orbits with one or more giant planets. Recent observations and reinterpretation of previous observations have revealed the existence of ring systems…
Recent studies of stellar occultations observed by the Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) onboard the Cassini spacecraft have demonstrated that multiple spiral wave structures in Saturn's rings are probably generated by…
The Saturn System has been studied in detail by the Cassini-Huygens Mission. A major thrust of those investigations has been to understand how Saturn formed and evolved and to place Saturn in the context of other gas giants and planetary…
The NASA Kepler mission has revealed an abundant class of Systems with Tightly-packed Inner Planets (STIPs). The current paradigm for planet formation suggests that small planetesimals will quickly spiral into the host star due to…
Whistler-mode waves are generated within and can propagate upstream of collisionless shocks. They are known to play a role in electron thermodynamics/acceleration and, under certain conditions, are markedly observed as wave trains preceding…
Rings are complex structures surrounding giant planets and some minor bodies in the Solar System. While some formation mechanisms could also potentially foster their existence around (regular or irregular) satellites, none of these bodies…
This paper addresses the fine-scale axisymmetric structure exhibited in Saturn's A and B-rings. We aim to explain both the periodic microstructure on 150-220m, revealed by the Cassini UVIS and RSS instruments, and the irregular variations…
Spokes in Saturn's rings are radially-extended structures consisting of dust grains. Although spacecraft and space telescope observations have revealed various detailed features of the spokes and their time variation, their formation…
The Cassini Division in Saturn's rings contains a series of eight named gaps, three of which contain dense ringlets. Observations of stellar occultations by the Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer onboard the Cassini spacecraft have…
Observations indicate that the gaseous circumstellar disks around young stars vary significantly in size, ranging from tens to thousands of AU. Models of planet formation depend critically upon the properties of these primordial disks, yet…
The origin of the highly eccentric, inclined, and resonance-locked orbit of Pluto has long been a puzzle. A possible explanation has been proposed recently [Malhotra, R., {\it Nature} 365:819-21 (1993)] which suggests that these…
The best constraints on the internal structures of giant planets have historically come from measurements of their gravity fields. These gravity data are inherently mostly sensitive to a planet's outer regions, providing only loose…
The propeller regime of disk accretion to a rapidly rotating magnetized star is investigated here for the first time by axisymmetric 2.5D magnetohydrodynamic simulations. An expanded, closed magnetosphere forms in which the magnetic field…
Voyager images and Cassini occultation data have previously shown that the behavior of the outer edge of Saturn's massive B ring is determined only in part by a static response to the 2:1 inner Lindblad resonance with Mimas. In Cassini…
Seismology of the gas giants holds the potential to resolve long-standing questions about their internal structure and rotation state. We construct a family of Saturn interior models constrained by the gravity field and compute their…
The recent identification of one or two sub-parsec disks of young, massive stars orbiting the ~4e6 solar mass black hole Sgr A* has prompted an "in-situ" scenario for star formation in disks of gas formed from a cloud captured from the…
Structure formation in young protoplanetary disks is investigated using a one-dimensional model including the formation and the evolution of disks. Recent observations with ALMA found that a ring-hole structure may be formed in young…
Observations of protoplanetary disks have revealed the presence of both crescent-shaped and ring-like structures in dust continuum emission. These crescents are thought to arise from dust-trapping vortices generated by the Rossby Wave…