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Related papers: A new pattern in Saturn's D ring created in late 2…

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Spokes are localized clouds of fine particles that appear over the outer part of Saturn's B ring. Over the course of the Cassini Mission, the Imaging Science Subsystem (ISS) obtained over 20,000 images of the outer B ring, providing the…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2025-01-22 S. R. Callos , M. M. Hedman , D. P. Hamilton

We have analyzed the highest-quality images to be obtained by Cassini of Saturn's main rings after the Saturn Orbit Insertion (SOI) and before the Ring Grazing Orbits (RGO) and Grand Finale (GF). These images are comparable to those of SOI…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2018-06-06 Matthew S. Tiscareno , Brent E. Harris

We present a study of the behavior of Saturn's A ring outer edge, using images and occultation data obtained by the Cassini spacecraft over a period of 8 years from 2006 to 2014. More than 5000 images and 170 occultations of the A ring…

The excitation of density and bending waves in Saturn's C ring by planetary oscillation modes presents a unique opportunity to learn about gas giant interiors and rotation. However, theoretical complications related to Saturn's rapid and…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2022-09-14 Janosz W. Dewberry , Christopher R. Mankovich , Jim Fuller

The so-called "Charming Ringlet" (R/2006 S3) is a low-optical-depth, dusty ringlet located in the Laplace gap in the Cassini Division. This ringlet is particularly interesting because its radial position varies systematically with longitude…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2010-10-01 M. M. Hedman , J. A. Burt , J. A. Burns , M. S. Tiscareno

We present a photometric model of the rings of Saturn which includes the main rings and an F ring, inclined to the main rings, with a Gaussian vertical profile of optical depth. This model reproduces the asymmetry in brightness between the…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2013-10-14 Britt R. Scharringhausen , Philip D. Nicholson

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

During the Grand Finale stage of the Cassini mission, organic-rich ring material was discovered to be flowing into Saturn's equatorial upper atmosphere at a surprisingly large rate. Through a series of photochemical models, we have examined…

To explore the formation and properties of Saturn's G ring, we study the dynamics of micron-sized dust particles originating from the arc of debris near the inner edge of the ring. The dynamical evolution of particles due to various…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2025-07-22 Zhenghan Chen , Xiaodong Liu , Kun Yang

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…

Astrophysics · Physics 2009-11-07 Scott Tremaine

Images obtained by the Cassini spacecraft of the region just beyond Saturn's main rings reveal a previously unreported narrow and dusty ringlet that has dynamical connections with both Saturn's small satellite Prometheus and the F ring. The…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2016-10-12 M. M. Hedman , B. J. Carter

Over the past few decades, various conjectures were advanced that Saturn's rings are Cantor-like sets, although no convincing fractal analysis of actual images has ever appeared. We focus on the images sent by the Cassini spacecraft…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2012-07-03 Jun Li , Martin Ostoja-Starzewski

Until 2013, only the giant planets were known to host ring systems. In June 2013, a stellar occulation revealed the presence of narrow and dense rings around Chariklo, a small Centaur object that orbits between Saturn and Uranus. Meanwhile,…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2017-04-12 Bruno Sicardy , Maryame El Moutamid , Alice C. Quillen , Paul M. Schenk , Mark R. Showalter , Kevin Walsh

Saturn's quasi-periodic planet-encircling storms are the largest convecting outbursts in the Solar System. The last eruption was in 1990. A new eruption started in December 2010 and presented the first-ever opportunity to observe such…

Normal mode oscillations in Saturn excite density and bending waves in the C Ring, providing a valuable window into the planet's interior. Saturn's fundamental modes (f modes) excite the majority of the observed waves, while…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2021-12-20 Janosz W. Dewberry , Christopher R. Mankovich , Jim Fuller , Dong Lai , Wenrui Xu

Saturn's rings act as a system of innumerable test particles that are remarkably sensitive to periodic disturbances in the planet's gravitational field. We identify 15 additional density and bending waves in Saturn's C ring driven by the…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2021-09-15 R. G. French , B. Bridges , M. M. Hedman , P. D. Nicholson , C. Mankovich , C. A. McGhee-French

Saturn's magnetospheric magnetic field, planetary radio emissions, plasma populations and magnetospheric structure are all known to be modulated at periods close to the assumed rotation period of the planetary interior. These oscillations…

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…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2023-01-18 Rémy Larue , Henrik Latter , Hanno Rein

We examine Saturn's atmosphere with observations from ground-based telescopes and Hubble Space Telescope (HST). We present a detailed analysis of observations acquired during 2018. A system of polar storms that appeared in the planet in…

We use a state-of-the-art physics-based model of electromagnetic scattering to analyze average circular polarization ratios measured for the A and B rings of Saturn at a wavelength of 12.6 cm. This model is directly based on the Maxwell…

Astrophysics · Physics 2011-02-11 Michael I. Mishchenko , Janna M. Dlugach