Localized Perturbations in Saturn's C Ring
Abstract
Years of high-resolution imaging of Saturn's rings have revealed many examples of perturbations arising from local causes. For example, the presence of 100-m-scale and smaller moonlets is inferred in the A ring based on the propeller-shaped disturbances that they create (Tiscareno et al. 2006, 2010); the F ring is shaped by regular collisions with its shepherd Prometheus, as well as with other smaller bodies orbiting in the vicinity (Murray et al. 2005, 2008); the "wisps" on the outer edge of the Keeler gap (Porco et al. 2005) may mark the locations of small moonlets that have emerged from the A ring (Tiscareno and Arnault 2015); wakes in the Huygens ringlet imply the presence of two multi-km bodies, and the irregular shape of its inner edge suggests the presence of many smaller bodies (Spitale and Hahn 2016); based on shadow measurements, the B ring contains an embedded 300-m object that produces a small propeller-shaped disturbance (Spitale and Porco 2010; Spitale and Tiscareno 2012).Here, we present evidence for localized perturbations in the C ring. The ringlet embedded in the Bond gap, near 1.470 Saturn radii, shows discrete clumps orbiting at the Keplerian rate in images spanning about eight years. The clumps are not detected in all image sequences at the expected longitudes. The Dawes ringlet, near 1.495 Saturn radii, has an irregular edge that does not appear as a simple superposition of low-wavenumber normal modes.
- Publication:
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AAS/Division for Planetary Sciences Meeting Abstracts #48
- Pub Date:
- October 2016
- Bibcode:
- 2016DPS....4811401S