Jagged Shadows May Indicate Saturn Ring Particles
Explanation:
What's causing unusual jagged shadows on Saturn's rings?
No one is yet sure.
As Saturn nears
equinox,
its rings increasingly show only their
thin edge to the Earth and Sun.
As a result, Saturn's moons now commonly
cas
t long
shadows onto the
rings.
An example of this is the elongated vertical shadow of
Mimas seen on the above right.
The series of
shorter, jagged shadows
that run diagonally, however, are more unusual.
Now Saturn's rings have been known to be made of particles for
hundreds of years,
but these particles have so far escaped direct imaging.
It is therefore particularly exciting that a
preliminary hypothesis
holds that these
jagged shadows
are
silhouettes
of
transient groups of ring particles
temporarily held close by their own gravity.
Future work will surely continue, as the robotic
Cassini spacecraft
orbiting Saturn that took the
above image will continue to photograph
Saturn's magnificent rings
right through
Saturn's equinox this
August.
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.
