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Related papers: Kronoseismology: Using density waves in Saturn's C…

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Saturn's main rings exhibit variations in both their opacity and spectral properties on a broad range of spatial scales, and the correlations between these parameters can provide insights into the processes that shape the composition and…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2013-01-14 M. M. Hedman , P. D. Nicholson , J. N. Cuzzi , R. N. Clark , G. Filacchione , F. Capaccioni , M. Ciarniello

We present a review of Saturn's interior structure and thermal evolution, with a particular focus on work in the past 5 years. Data from the Cassini mission, including a precise determination of the gravity field from the Grand Finale…

Saturn's inner B-ring and its C-ring support wavetrains of contrasting amplitudes but with similar length scales, 100-1000 km. In addition, the inner B-ring is punctuated by two intriguing `flat' regions between radii 93,000 km and 98,000…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2015-10-14 Henrik Latter , Gordon Ogilvie , Marie Chupeau

Images obtained by the Cassini spacecraft between 2012 and 2015 reveal a periodic brightness variation in a region of Saturn's D ring that previously appeared to be rather featureless. Furthermore, the intensity and radial wavenumber of…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2016-08-31 M. M. Hedman , M. R. Showalter

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,…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2023-03-30 Christopher R. Mankovich , Janosz W. Dewberry , Jim Fuller

This paper addresses resonantly forced spiral density waves in a dense planetary ring which is close to the threshold for viscous overstability. We solve numerically the hydrodynamical equations for a dense, axisymmetric thin disk in the…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2019-03-20 Marius Lehmann , Juergen Schmidt , Heikki Salo

We present results from large-scale particle simulations of the viscous overstability in Saturn's rings. The overstability generates a variety of structure on scales covering a few hundred metres to several kilometres, including…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2015-06-11 Hanno Rein , Henrik Latter

Using astrometric observations spanning more than a century and including a large set of Cassini data, we determine Saturn's tidal parameters through their current effects on the orbits of the eight main and four coorbital moons. We have…

Previous investigations of Saturn's outer D ring (73,200-74,000 km from Saturn's center) identified periodic brightness variations whose radial wavenumber increased linearly over time. This pattern was attributed to a vertical corrugation,…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2015-06-23 M. M. Hedman , J. A. Burns , M. R. Showalter

The ejecta discharged by impacting meteorites can redistribute a planetary ring's mass and angular momentum. This `ballistic transport' of ring properties instigates a linear instability that could generate the 100--1000-km undulations…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2015-10-14 Henrik Latter , Gordon Ogilvie , Marie Chupeau

Saturn is ringing weakly. Exquisite data from the Cassini mission reveal the presence of f-mode oscillations as they excite density waves in Saturn's rings. These oscillations have displacement amplitudes of order a metre on Saturn's…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2019-09-04 Yanqin Wu , Yoram Lithwick

The thermal inertia values of Saturn's main rings (the A, B, and C rings and the Cassini division) are derived by applying our thermal model to azimuthally scanned spectra taken by the Cassini Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS). Model…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2015-06-11 Ryuji Morishima , Linda Spilker , Keiji Ohtsuki

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…

Astrophysics · Physics 2007-05-23 E. B. Postnikov , A. Loskutov

We analyze several thousand Cassini ISS images in order to study the inner edge of the Keeler gap in Saturn's outer A ring. We find strong evidence for an m=32 perturbation with a mean amplitude of radial variation of 4.5 km. Phase analysis…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2017-09-08 Radwan Tajeddine , Philip D. Nicholson , Matthew S. Tiscareno , Matthew M. Hedman , Joseph A. Burns , Maryame El Moutamid

We describe a model that accounts for the complex morphology of spiral density waves raised in Saturn's rings by the co-orbital satellites, Janus and Epimetheus. Our model may be corroborated by future Cassini observations of these…

The Iapetus -1:0 nodal bending wave, the first spiral wave ever described in Saturn's rings, has been seen again for the first time in 29 years. We demonstrate that it is in fact the nodal bending wave, not the 1:0 apsidal density wave as…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2015-06-15 Matthew S. Tiscareno , Matthew M. Hedman , Joseph A. Burns , John W. Weiss , Carolyn C. Porco

Saturn's diffuse E ring consists of many tiny (micron and sub-micron) grains of water ice distributed between the orbits of Mimas and Titan. Various gravitational and non-gravitational forces perturb these particles' orbits, causing the…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2015-06-03 M. M. Hedman , J. A. Burns , D. P. Hamilton , M. R. Showalter

A new model for the shape of the prominent eccentric ringlet in the gap exterior to Saturn's B-ring is developed based on Cassini imaging observations taken over about 8 years. Unlike previous treatments, the new model treats each edge of…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2016-08-31 Joseph N. Spitale , Joseph M. Hahn

In this work, we model the radial density profile of the outer A ring of Saturn observed with Cassini cameras (Tiscareno & Harris 2018): An axisymmetric diffusion model has been developed, accounting for the outward viscous flow of the ring…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2019-06-20 Fabio M. Grätz , Michael Seiler , Martin Seiß , Holger Hoffmann , Frank Spahn

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…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2015-05-13 Henrik N. Latter , Gordon I. Ogilvie