Cassini Images Saturns A Ring
Explanation:
What are
Saturn's rings
made of?
In an effort to find out, the
robot
spacecraft Cassini that entered orbit around
Saturn two weeks ago
took several detailed images of the area surrounding
Saturn's large A ring in
ultraviolet light.
In the
above image, the bluer an area appears, the richer it is in water ice. Conversely,
the redder an
area appears, the richer it is in some sort of dirt.
This and other images show that inner rings have more dirt than outer rings.
Specifically, as
shown above, the thin rings in the
Cassini Division
on the left have relatively high dirt content
compared to the outer parts of
Saturn's A ring,
shown on the right.
This dirt/ice trend could be a big clue to the ring's origin.
The thin red band in the otherwise blue A ring is the
Encke Gap.
The exact composition of dirt remains unknown.
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.
