Rev 61 Enceladus (March 12 2008) |
Rev 61 Enceladus (March 12 2008) |
Apr 4 2008, 04:11 AM
Post
#121
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Member Group: Members Posts: 754 Joined: 9-February 07 Member No.: 1700 |
JReihling - thank you for your Post #116. You describe succinctly and in easily understandable terms a very complex process.
Regarding your mention of a common urge to explain a planetary condition through the prism of "A Collision": it would seem that the rings of Saturn itself, and - if they're really there - the rings around Saturn's moon Rhea, are in fact the result of one or more big collisions that left a swirl of debris. As you point out, it's unlikely that the comet-like content of Enceladus is the direct result of one or a few big collisions. Could it be an indirect result? Perhaps. A question for the experts: do moons or planets at LaGrange points tend to tidy up a dusty ring, or are they more likely to keep a ring of tiny bits in place? To rephrase, do the shepherd moons of Saturn have a specific L-point relationship that lets the rings survive, whereas the large moons of Jupiter have/had an L-point relationship that caused them to clear out the dusty rings? |
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