Density patterns induced by small moonlets in Saturn’s rings?
نویسندگان
چکیده
An extension of the model of the gravitational scattering by moonlets in planetary rings to collisional diffusion is presented. The resulting typical propeller-shaped structures bear the chance to deduce the existence of larger (> 100 meter) embedded bodies in planetary rings. Their spatial extensions provide estimates for the size of the embedded bodies and they contain information about the physical properties of the surrounding ring-material like the kinematic viscosity, massdensity, mean free path and collision frequency. The induced structures lie in the range of the resolution of the Cassini Imaging experiment, and thus, could be observed in near future.
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تاریخ انتشار 2000