Direct detection of gaps in Saturn’s A ring
- Resource Type
- Authors
- Morgan Rehnberg; Zarah Brown; Larry W. Esposito; Nicole Albers
- Source
- Icarus. 297:110-118
- Subject
- Physics
Brightness
010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences
media_common.quotation_subject
Rings of Saturn
Astronomy
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
Ring (chemistry)
01 natural sciences
Asymmetry
Gravitation
Space and Planetary Science
Saturn
0103 physical sciences
Astrophysics::Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
010303 astronomy & astrophysics
Spectrograph
Optical depth
0105 earth and related environmental sciences
media_common
- Language
- ISSN
- 0019-1035
Indirect observations spanning decades have indicated that Saturn’s A ring is populated with a plethora of self-gravity wakes, small wavelike structures that arise from the gravitational attraction between ring particles. We present the direct detection of the gaps that represent the minima between the denser wakes. Through a statistical test, we analyze a series of seven high-resolution stellar occultations observed by the Cassini Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph to identify nearly half a million discrete regions with an optical depth less than a quarter of the surrounding ring. These gaps correlate strongly with previous observations of the A-ring brightness asymmetry.