METER-SIZED MOONLET POPULATION IN SATURN'S C RING AND CASSINI DIVISION
- Department of Physics, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32816-2385 (United States)
- Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado at Boulder, 392 UCB, Boulder, CO 80309-0392 (United States)
Stellar occultations observed by the Cassini Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph reveal the presence of transparent holes a few meters to a few tens of meters in radial extent in otherwise optically thick regions of the C ring and the Cassini Division. We attribute the holes to gravitational disturbances generated by a population of {approx}10 m boulders in the rings that is intermediate in size between the background ring particle size distribution and the previously observed {approx}100 m propeller moonlets in the A ring. The size distribution of these boulders is described by a shallower power-law than the one that describes the ring particle size distribution. The number and size distribution of these boulders could be explained by limited accretion processes deep within Saturn's Roche zone.
- OSTI ID:
- 22118809
- Journal Information:
- Astronomical Journal (New York, N.Y. Online), Vol. 145, Issue 6; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1538-3881
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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