Dust levitation as a major resurfacing process on the surface of a saturnian icy satellite, Atlas
Dust levitation as a major resurfacing process on the surface of a saturnian icy satellite, Atlas
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尘埃悬浮是土星冰卫星表面的一个主要重铺过程，阿特拉斯
DOI：
10.1016/j.icarus.2012.03.028
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发表时间：
2012
期刊：
影响因子：
3.2
通讯作者：
H. Miyamoto
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
N. Hirata;H. Miyamoto
土星内部的一颗小卫星阿特拉斯有着神秘的碟状形状，这可以用土星A环上粒子的积累来解释。然而，它不寻常的光滑表面仍然无法解释。通过连续的粒子撞击事件进行园艺并不能解释光滑的唯一原因，因为普罗米修斯没有表现出类似的表面，尽管它也会经历类似的轰击。在这里，使用阿特拉斯的特写图像进行的详细调查显示，表面(1)被细颗粒（即可能小到几十微米）覆盖；(2)基本上没有撞击坑（即迄今为止只发现了一个）；(3)连续平滑，即使在赤道脊和起伏的极地之间也是如此。这些发现表明，在阿特拉斯的表面上，某种形式的陨石坑擦除过程一直很活跃。从静电分析中，我们提出，由于尘埃悬浮，最上层的细颗粒会变得静电不稳定并迁移，从而导致阿特拉斯表面的陨石坑消失。如果这是真的，阿特拉斯将代表第一个被公认的由尘埃悬浮主导的表面重新形成的天体。
A small inner satellite of Saturn, Atlas, has an enigmatic saucer-like shape explained by an accumulation of particles from A-ring of Saturn. However, its unusual smooth surface remains unexplained. Gardening through continuous particle impact events cannot be a unique explanation for the smoothness, because Prometheus does not exhibit a similar surface, though it too would have experienced a similar bombardment. Here, a detailed investigation using close-up images of Atlas reveals the surface to be (1) covered by fine particles (i.e., probably as small as several tens of micrometers); (2) mostly void of impact craters (i.e., only one has been thus far identified); and (3) continuously smooth, even between the equatorial ridge and the undulating polar region. These findings imply that some sort of crater-erasing process has been active on the surface of Atlas. From electro-static analyses, we propose that the upper-most layer of the fine particles can become electro-statically unstable and migrate as a result of dust levitation, which resulted in erasing craters on the surface of Atlas. If true, Atlas would represent the first recognized body where resurfacing is dominated by dust levitation.
影响因子：
56.9
作者：
Miyamoto, Hideaki;Yano, Hajime;Sasaki, Sho
通讯作者：
Sasaki, Sho
影响因子：
2.8
作者：
HAVNES, O;GOERTZ, CK;IP, W
通讯作者：
IP, W