Cassini Images Density Waves in Saturns Rings
Explanation:
What causes the patterns in Saturn's rings?
The
Cassini spacecraft just entering orbit around
Saturn
has started sending back
spectacular images of
Saturn's immense ring system in unprecedented
detail.
The physical cause for many of
newly resolved ring structures
is not always understood.
The cause for the beautifully geometric type of ring structure
shown above in
Saturn's A ring, however,
is hypothesized to be a spiral
density wave.
A small moon systematically perturbing the orbits of
ring particles orbiting at slightly different distances
causes such a
density wave bunching.
Also visible on
the image right is a
bending wave, a vertical wave in ring particles also
caused by the gravity of a nearby moon.
This close-up spans about 220 kilometers.
Cassini is
scheduled to take and send back images of the distant ringed
Saturn and its unusual moons for the next four years.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
