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TOPIC: Saturn's rings
Blobrana


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Saturn's G ring
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Cassini scientists may have identified the source of one of Saturn's more mysterious rings. Saturn's G ring likely is produced by relatively large, icy particles that reside within a bright arc on the ring's inner edge.
The particles are confined within the arc by gravitational effects from Saturn's moon Mimas. Micrometeoroids collide with the particles, releasing smaller, dust-sized particles that brighten the arc. The plasma in the giant planet's magnetic field sweeps through this arc continually, dragging out the fine particles, which create the G ring.

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Blobrana


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G-ring
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A loosely knit band of roving ice boulders in orbit around Saturn could be providing the raw material for one of the planet's rings, scientists say.
The finding, detailed in the Aug. 3 issue of the journal Science, could solve the puzzle of what sustains Saturn's "G-ring" and might be evidence that a Saturnian moonlet was destroyed during an ancient collision.
The formation of Saturn's rings is a general mystery, but theorists figure they're the result of one or more breakups of icy objects in the past. In particular though, the G-ring has really puzzled scientists since its discovery in the late 1970s by the Voyager mission.

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Blobrana


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D ring
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This visible light image of Saturn's innermost ring, the D ring, was taken by the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on June 12, 2007, when it was at a distance of approximately 238,000 kilometres.
Background stars are visible through the sheer ring as squiggly star trails.

Sat_Dring
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Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

The inner region of the C ring is seen at the upper left.
The view looks toward the sunlit side of the rings from about 18 degrees below the ringplane.
Image scale is 1 kilometre per pixel.

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Blobrana


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RE: Saturn Rings
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Astronomers have long known that Saturn's rings reflect sunlight most strongly when Earth is located directly between Saturn and the sun. Flat, shiny surfaces (like a mirror or a pond) can appear particularly bright when light reflects off them in a certain direction. Scientists call this "specular reflection," from the Latin word for mirror. However, even rough surfaces, like those of Earth's moon or Saturn's rings, can appear bright when the source of light is directly behind the observer's head, no matter what the orientation of the surface is. This latter phenomenon is known as the "opposition effect." Spectacular examples include the eyes of a cat, which seem to glow brightly when they are illuminated by a flashlight, or highway signs and reflectors that "light up" when they are caught in a car's headlights.

satrings_col

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Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

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Blobrana


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The Cassini spacecraft spies an intriguing bright clump in Saturn's F ring. Also of interest is the dark gash that appears to cut through the ring immediately below the clump. Scientists continue to monitor this ring for small, transient clumps of material, as well as the effects of the shepherd moon Prometheus.

RimgClump8969
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Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

This view looks toward the unilluminated side of the rings from about 28 degrees above the ringplane.
The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on May 5, 2007 at a distance of approximately 2.1 million kilometres from Saturn.

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Blobrana


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This image of Saturns rings was taken by the Cassini spaceprobe on June 17, 2007, when it was approximately 2,189,161 kilometres away.
Saturns Moon Atlas can be seen at the centre of the image.
Sat rings84994
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Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

The image was taken using the CL1 and CL2 filters.

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Blobrana


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This image of Saturn's F ring shows multiple lanes and several bright clumps. The Keeler and Encke gaps are visible in the outer A ring, at right.

Fring08963
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Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

This view looks toward the unilluminated side of the rings from about 28 degrees above the ringplane.
The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on May 5, 2007 at a distance of approximately 2.1 million kilometres from Saturn. Image scale is 12 kilometres per pixel.

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Blobrana


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This image od Saturns rings was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on May 14, 2007 at a distance of approximately 1.8 million kilometres from Saturn.

SatRingsmay1407
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Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

This view looks toward the unilluminated side of the rings from about 7 degrees above the ringplane. The planet is overexposed in this observation, which was designed to capture details in the rings.
Image scale is 101 kilometres per pixel.

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Blobrana


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This Cassini spacecraft view shows a group of more than a dozen spokes in Saturn's outer B ring. The B ring displays the azimuthal asymmetry, or variation with longitude around the planet, that is characteristic of the spoke-forming region.
The large spoke feature above centre -- most likely a grouping of multiple spokes -- is about 5,000 kilometres long and 2,000 kilometres wide.

SataRING08955
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Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Left of centre, two dark gaps mark the Cassini Division (4,800 kilometres wide).
This view looks toward the unilluminated side of the rings from about 9 degrees above the ringplane. The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on April 28, 2007 at a distance of approximately 1.6 million kilometres from Saturn. Image scale is 9 kilometres per pixel.

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Blobrana


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Image1
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This false-colour image of Saturn's main rings was made by combining data from multiple star occultations using the Cassini ultraviolet imaging spectrograph.
Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Colorado

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