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Irregular structure in planetary rings is often attributed to the intrinsic instabilities of a homogeneous state undergoing Keplerian shear. Previously these have been analysed with simple hydrodynamic models. We instead employ a kinetic…

Saturn's rings are composed of icy grains, most in the mm to m size ranges, undergoing several collisions per orbit. Their collective behaviour generates a remarkable array of structure over many orders of magnitude, much of it not well…

Many small moonlets, creating propeller structures, have been found in Saturn's rings by the Cassini spacecraft. We study the dynamical evolution of such 20-50m sized bodies which are embedded in Saturn's rings. We estimate the importance…

In a previous paper (Hedman and Nicholson 2013), we developed tools that allowed us to confirm that several of the waves in Saturn's rings were likely generated by resonances with fundamental sectoral normal modes inside Saturn itself. Here…

Stellar magnetic activity of solar like stars is thought to be due to an internal dynamo. While the Sun has been the subject of intense research for refining dynamo models, observations of magnetic cyclic activity in solar type stars have…

We explore whether hyperbolic diffusion may help explain sharp edges in the gaps in Saturn's rings. Sharp edges are conventionally understood to be due to angular momentum flux reversal at gap edges. We do not dispute this finding, but…

Normal mode seismology is a promising means of measuring rotation in gas giant interiors, and ring seismology presents a singular opportunity to do so at Saturn. We calculate Saturn's normal modes of oscillation and zonal gravity field,…

We suggest that the irregular structure in Saturn's B ring arises from the formation of shear-free ring-particle assemblies of up to ~100 km in radial extent. The characteristic scale of the irregular structure is set by the competition…

An instability among the giant planets' orbits can match many aspects of the Solar System's current orbital architecture. We explore the possibility that this dynamical instability was triggered by the close passage of a star or substellar…

The origin of Saturn's rings has been debated for decades. Measurements from Voyager and Cassini have suggested that the rings could be as young as ~100 Myr and composed of nearly pure water ice. Several scenarios have been proposed to…

As it has already done for Earth, the sun, and the stars, seismology has the potential to radically change the way the interiors of giant planets are studied. In a sequence of events foreseen by only a few, observations of Saturn's rings by…

The hypothesis of a recent origin of Saturn's rings and its mid-sized moons is actively debated. It was suggested that a proto-Rhea and a proto-Dione might have collided recently, giving birth to the modern system of mid-sized moons. It is…

A new method based on continuous wavelet transform with the complex Morlet wavelet to analyze Saturn main rings is presented. It allows to investigate in detail the resonance zones and reveal the coexistence of waves with stable periods and…

Saturn's rings, reminiscent of an early Solar System present a unique opportunity to investigate experimentally some mechanisms thought to be responsible for planet and planetesimal formation in protoplanetary discs. Here we extended the…

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…

Saturns rings are known to show remarkable real time variability in their structure. Many of which can be associated to interactions with nearby moons and moonlets. Possibly the most interesting and dynamic place in the rings, probably in…

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 Cassini spacecraft provided key measurements during its more than twelve year mission that constrain the absolute age of Saturn's rings. These include the extrinsic micrometeoroid flux at Saturn, the volume fraction of non-icy…

Saturn's C ring contains multiple spiral patterns that appear to be density waves driven by periodic gravitational perturbations. In other parts of Saturn's rings, such waves are generated by Lindblad resonances with Saturn's various moons,…

Tidal interactions between Saturn and its satellites play a crucial role in both the orbital migration of the satellites and the heating of their interiors. Therefore constraining the tidal dissipation of Saturn (here the ratio k2/Q) opens…