The Enceladus and OH Tori at Saturn
Abstract
The remarkable observation that Enceladus, a small icy satellite of Saturn, is actively venting has led to the suggestion that ejected water molecules are the source of the toroidal atmosphere observed at Saturn for over a decade using the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Here we show that the venting leads directly to a new feature, a narrow Enceladus neutral torus. The larger torus, observed using HST, is populated by charge exchange, the process that limits the lifetime of the neutrals in the Enceladus torus.
- Publication:
-
The Astrophysical Journal
- Pub Date:
- June 2006
- DOI:
- 10.1086/505750
- Bibcode:
- 2006ApJ...644L.137J
- Keywords:
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- planets and satellites: individual (Enceladus);
- Planets and Satellites: Individual: Saturn