The Structure of Saturn's E ring as seen by Cassini CDA
Abstract
The Cassini onboard dust detector, CDA, measures the mass, speed, charge, and composition of individual ring particles. Thus, the size and speed distribution of the E ring particles can be derived from CDA measurements obtained during Cassini's ring traversals. Because there is a close connection between the ring particle dynamics and the distribution of ring particle speeds, CDA provides precious information about the processes sculpting the ring. Here we present speed and size distributions measured inside and outside the orbit of the dominating ring particle source, the active ring moon Enceladus. We also present radial density profiles of the inner E ring obtained during equatorial ring traversals, which show a pronounced dependence of the ring structure on the hour angle.
- Publication:
-
EPSC-DPS Joint Meeting 2011
- Pub Date:
- October 2011
- Bibcode:
- 2011epsc.conf.1643K