Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
5487171 | Icarus | 2017 | 9 Pages |
Abstract
Indirect observations spanning decades have indicated that Saturn's A ring is populated with a plethora of self-gravity wakes, small wavelike structures that arise from the gravitational attraction between ring particles. We present the direct detection of the gaps that represent the minima between the denser wakes. Through a statistical test, we analyze a series of seven high-resolution stellar occultations observed by the Cassini Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph to identify nearly half a million discrete regions with an optical depth less than a quarter of the surrounding ring. These gaps correlate strongly with previous observations of the A-ring brightness asymmetry.
Keywords
Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering
Earth and Planetary Sciences
Space and Planetary Science
Authors
Morgan E. Rehnberg, Zarah L. Brown, Larry W. Esposito, Nicole Albers,