. 24/7 Space News .
SATURN DAILY
Saturn's rings: less than meets the eye
by Staff Writers
Pasadena CA (JPL) Feb 03, 2016


The B ring is the brightest of Saturn's rings when viewed in reflected sunlight. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

It seems intuitive that an opaque material should contain more stuff than a more translucent substance. For example, muddier water has more suspended particles of dirt in it than clearer water. Likewise, you might think that, in the rings of Saturn, more opaque areas contain a greater concentration of material than places where the rings seem more transparent.

But this intuition does not always apply, according to a recent study of the rings using data from NASA's Cassini mission. In their analysis, scientists found surprisingly little correlation between how dense a ring might appear to be - in terms of its opacity and reflectiveness - and the amount of material it contains.

The new results concern Saturn's B ring, the brightest and most opaque of Saturn's rings, and are consistent with previous studies that found similar results for Saturn's other main rings.

The scientists found that, while the opacity of the B ring varied by a large amount across its width, the mass - or amount of material - did not vary much from place to place. They "weighed" the nearly opaque center of the B ring for the first time - technically, they determined its mass density in several places - by analyzing spiral density waves.

These are fine-scale ring features created by gravity tugging on ring particles from Saturn's moons, and the planet's own gravity. The structure of each wave depends directly on the amount of mass in the part of the rings where the wave is located.

"At present it's far from clear how regions with the same amount of material can have such different opacities. It could be something associated with the size or density of individual particles, or it could have something to do with the structure of the rings," said Matthew Hedman, the study's lead author and a Cassini participating scientist at the University of Idaho, Moscow. Cassini co-investigator Phil Nicholson of Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, co-authored the work with Hedman.

"Appearances can be deceiving," said Nicholson. "A good analogy is how a foggy meadow is much more opaque than a swimming pool, even though the pool is denser and contains a lot more water."

Research on the mass of Saturn's rings has important implications for their age. A less massive ring would evolve faster than a ring containing more material, becoming darkened by dust from meteorites and other cosmic sources more quickly. Thus, the less massive the B ring is, the younger it might be - perhaps a few hundred million years instead of a few billion.

"By 'weighing' the core of the B ring for the first time, this study makes a meaningful step in our quest to piece together the age and origin of Saturn's rings," said Linda Spilker, Cassini project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California. "The rings are so magnificent and awe-inspiring, it's impossible for us to resist the mystery of how they came to be."

While all the giant planets in our solar system (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune) have ring systems of their own, Saturn's are clearly different. Explaining why Saturn's rings are so bright and vast is an important challenge in understanding their formation and history. For scientists, the density of material packed into each section of the rings is a critical factor in ascribing their formation to a physical process.

An earlier study by members of Cassini's composite infrared spectrometer team had suggested the possibility that there might be less material in the B ring than researchers had thought. The new analysis is the first to directly measure the density of mass in the ring and demonstrate that this is the case.

Hedman and Nicholson used a new technique to analyze data from a series of observations by Cassini's visible and infrared mapping spectrometer as it peered through the rings toward a bright star. By combining multiple observations, they were able to identify spiral density waves in the rings that aren't obvious in individual measurements.

The analysis also found that the overall mass of the B ring is unexpectedly low. It was surprising, said Hedman, because some parts of the B ring are up to 10 times more opaque than the neighboring A ring, but the B ring may weigh in at only two to three times the A ring's mass.

Despite the low mass found by Hedman and Nicholson, the B ring is still thought to contain the bulk of material in Saturn's ring system. And although this study leaves some uncertainty about the ring's mass, a more precise measurement of the total mass of Saturn's rings is on the way.

Previously, Cassini had measured Saturn's gravity field, telling scientists the total mass of Saturn and its rings. In 2017, Cassini will determine the mass of Saturn alone by flying just inside the rings during the final phase of its mission. The difference between the two measurements is expected to finally reveal the rings' true mass.

The study was published online by the journal Icarus.


Thanks for being here;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5 Billed Monthly


paypal only


.


Related Links
Cassini at Saturn
Explore The Ring World of Saturn and her moons
Jupiter and its Moons
The million outer planets of a star called Sol
News Flash at Mercury






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle

Previous Report
SATURN DAILY
Cassini Heads for 'Higher Ground' at Saturn
Pasadena CA (JPL) Jan 26, 2016
NASA's Cassini mission is entering its next chapter with an orbital choreography meant to tilt the spacecraft's orbit out of Saturn's ringplane. The second of five large propulsive maneuvers in this campaign took place on Saturday, Jan. 23. Each maneuver in the series sets up a subsequent gravity-assist flyby of Saturn's massive moon Titan, which reshapes the spacecraft's orbit, sending it ... read more


SATURN DAILY
Phase of the moon affects amount of rainfall

Russia postpones manned Lunar mission to 2035

Audi joins Google Lunar XPrize competition

Lunar mission moves a step closer

SATURN DAILY
Sandy Selfie Sent from NASA Mars Rover

4 people to live in an HERA habitat for 30 days at JSC

Getting real - on Mars

Opportunity Reaches 12 Years on Mars!

SATURN DAILY
Challenger disaster at 30: Did the tragedy change NASA for the better?

Innovations in the Air

Astronaut rescue exercise proves Det. 3 command, control ready to support DoD, NASA

Voyager Mission Celebrates 30 Years Since Uranus

SATURN DAILY
Last Launch for Long March 2F/G

China aims for the Moon with new rockets

China shoots for first landing on far side of the moon

Chinese Long March 3B to launch Belintersat-1 telco sat for Belarus

SATURN DAILY
New Tool Provides Successful Visual Inspection of ISS Robot Arm

Russian Cosmonauts to Attach Thermal Insulation to ISS

Astronaut Scott Kelly plays ping pong with water

Japanese astronaut learned Russian to link two nations

SATURN DAILY
SpaceX Tests Crew Dragon Parachutes

ILS Proton Successfully Launches Eutelsat 9B for Eutelsat

Pentagon Can't Overcome Its Russian Engines Addiction: McCain

Ariane 6 design finalized, set for 2020 launch

SATURN DAILY
Astronomers discover largest solar system

Lonely Planet Finds a Mum a Trillion Km Away

Follow A Live Planet Hunt

Lab discovery gives glimpse of conditions found on other planets

SATURN DAILY
Will Space Debris be Responsible for World War III?

Researchers develop completely new kind of polymer

NASA Engineers Tapped to Build First Integrated-Photonics Modem

Energy harvesting via smart materials









The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.