Related papers: Charged Grains In Saturn's F-Ring: Interaction Wit…

The dynamics of Saturn's F Ring have been a matter of curiosity ever since Voyagers 1 and 2 sent back pictures of the ring's unusual features. Some of these images showed three distinct ringlets with the outer two displaying a kinked and…

The observed disparity between the radial dependence of the ion and electron densities measured by the Cassini plasma and radio science instruments are used to show that the region between the outer edge of Saturn's main rings and its…

We investigated the electrostatic charging behavior of submillimeter-sized dust particles located in Saturn's magnetosphere. The charging effects we considered included electron/ion capture from the magnetospheric plasma, electron/ion…

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…

The atmosphere of Saturn's largest moon Titan is driven by photochemistry, charged particle precipitation from Saturn's upstream magnetosphere, and presumably by the diffusion of the magnetospheric field into the outer ionosphere, amongst…

Spacecraft observations of Saturn's rings show evidence of an active aggregation-disaggregation process triggered by periodic influences from the nearby moons. This leads to clumping and break-up of the ring particles at time-scales of the…

We study the stability of charged dust grains orbiting a planet and subject to gravity and the electromagnetic force. Our numerical models cover a broad range of launch distances from the planetary surface to beyond synchronous orbit, and…

We investigate the combined effect of solar wind, Poynting-Robertson drag, and the frozen-in interplanetary magnetic field on the motion of charged dust grains in our solar system. For this reason we derive a secular theory of motion by the…

Exploratory missions have found that regolith on interplanetary bodies can be loosely packed and freely flowing, a state that strongly affects mission plans and that may also influence the large scale shapes of these bodies. We investigate…

The $\mu$ and $\nu$ rings of Uranus form a secondary ring-moon system with the satellites Puck, Mab,Portia, and Rosalind. These rings are tenuous and dominated by micrometric particles, which can be strongly disturbed by the solar radiation…

The charging of dust grains in astrophysical environments has been investigated with the assumption these grains are homogeneous spheres. However, there is evidence which suggests many grains in astrophysical environments are…

The innovative Saturn Ring Skimmer mission concept enables a wide range of investigations that address fundamental questions about Saturn and its rings, as well as giant planets and astrophysical disk systems in general. This mission would…

We revisit the evidence for a "dust cloud" observed by the Cassini spacecraft at Saturn in 2006. The data of four instruments are simultaneously compared to interpret the signatures of a coherent swarm of dust that would have remained near…

The last 22.5 orbits of the Cassini mission brought the spacecraft to less than 3000 km from Saturn's 1-bar surface. These close encounters offered an unprecedented view of Saturn's magnetic field, including contributions from the internal…

For its beautiful rings, active atmosphere and mysterious magnetic field, Saturn is a fascinating planet. It also holds some of the keys to understanding the formation of our Solar System and the evolution of giant planets in general. While…

We develop a minimal nonlinear model to investigate the oscillatory dynamics of Saturn's F ring under dual-moon forcing from Prometheus and Pandora. The model extends classical predator--prey dynamics by incorporating both a nonlinear mass…

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…

Saturns F-ring is a unique, narrow ring that lies (radially) close to the tidally disruptive Roche limit of water ice for Saturn. Significant work has been done that shows it to be one of the most dynamic places in the Solar System.…

Interstellar dust grains exhibit complex dynamics which is essential for understanding many key interstellar processes that involve dust, including grain alignment, grain growth, grain shattering etc. Grain rotational and translational…

The interaction between dust grains is an important process in fields as diverse as planetesimal formation or the plasma processing of silicon wafers into computer chips. This interaction depends in large part on the material properties of…