A pearl in the rings - Unmanned Spaceflight.com

A pearl in the rings

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remcook View Member Profile	Sep 27 2006, 08:00 PM Post #1
Rover Driver Group: Members Posts: 1015 Joined: 4-March 04 Member No.: 47	Is that a star or a moon? It doesn't look to be behind the rings, but maybe it's forward scattering. It's in roughly the same place all the time, but not on all images, so I don't think it's an artifact. Are they doing a stellar occultation of the rings? Sure looks pretty though! http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/imag...eiImageID=84535 http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/imag...eiImageID=84536 http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/imag...eiImageID=84534 http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/imag...eiImageID=84531 etc.

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Guest_Sunspot_*	Sep 27 2006, 10:40 PM Post #2
Guests	This is a weird shot: http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/imag...eiImageID=84391 What might be going on here?

nprev View Member Profile	Sep 28 2006, 12:06 AM Post #3
Merciless Robot Group: Admin Posts: 8791 Joined: 8-December 05 From: Los Angeles Member No.: 602	QUOTE (Sunspot @ Sep 27 2006, 03:40 PM) This is a weird shot: http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/imag...eiImageID=84391 What might be going on here? Looks like an F-ring kink from a passage of one of the herder moons...but not sure if that's in fact the F-ring. EDIT: Just went to the site and yes, that does seem to be the F-ring up to its usual tricks. One thing I find extremely interesting is how it seems to spread out, diffuse, & differentiate into distinct subrings in gravitationally/tidally "clear" zones. Why would it do this? I can't imagine that differences in particle size alone would explain this behavior, unless Saturn's gravity gradient is steep enough to cause it. -------------------- A few will take this knowledge and use this power of a dream realized as a force for change, an impetus for further discovery to make less ancient dreams real.

Posts in this topic

remcook A pearl in the rings Sep 27 2006, 08:00 PM

volcanopele Yep, that's for another stellar occultation of... Sep 27 2006, 09:32 PM

Sunspot This is a weird shot: http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/... Sep 27 2006, 10:40 PM

nprev QUOTE (Sunspot @ Sep 27 2006, 03:40 PM) T... Sep 28 2006, 12:06 AM

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