Cassini discovers a kinematic spiral ring around Saturn
Cassini discovers a kinematic spiral ring around Saturn
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DOI：
10.1126/science.1119387
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发表时间：
2005-11-25
期刊：
影响因子：
56.9
通讯作者：
Baillie, K
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Charnoz, S;Porco, CC;Baillie, K
自1980年至1981年旅行者号飞越土星以来，土星的偏心F环被认为在两侧都伴随着微弱的物质。卡西尼号的新观测表明，这些最初被解释为同心环段的链实际上是连接在一起的，并形成了一个单臂拖曳螺旋，至少绕土星三圈。螺旋围绕土星旋转，其组成粒子的轨道运动。这种结构可能是微分轨道运动拉伸了从F环致密核心散射的初始粒子云的结果。不同的场景的形成，意味着小环卫星的相互作用，进行了探讨。最近发现的一颗候选卫星S/2004 S6，其轨道在螺旋与环的交叉处穿过F环核心，这表明S/2004 S6与螺旋之间存在动力学联系。
Since the time of the Voyager flybys of Saturn in 1980-1981, Saturn's eccentric F ring has been known to be accompanied on either side by faint strands of material. New Cassini observations show that these strands, initially interpreted as concentric ring segments, are in fact connected and form a single one-arm trailing spiral winding at least three times around Saturn. The spiral rotates around Saturn with the orbital motion of its constituent particles. This structure is likely the result of differential orbital motion stretching an initial cloud of particles scattered from the dense core of the F ring. Different scenarios of formation, implying ringlet-satellite interactions, are explored. A recently discovered moon candidate, S/2004 S6, is on an orbit that crosses the F-ring core at the intersection of the spiral with the ring, which suggests a dynamical connection between S/2004 S6 and the spiral.