Interferometric observations of Saturn and its rings at a wavelength of 3 3.71 cm |
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| Authors: | FPeter Schloerb Duane O Muhleman Glenn L Berge |
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| Institution: | Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences and Owens Valley Radio Observatory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA |
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| Abstract: | Interferometric observations of Saturn and its rings made at the Owens Valley Radio Observatory at a wavelength of 3.71 cm ar fit to models of the Saturn brightness structure. The models have allowed us to estimate the brightness temperatures and optical thicknesses of the A, B, and C rings as well as the brightness temperature of the planetary disk. The most accurate results are the ratios of the ring temperatures to the planet temperature of 0.030 ± 0.012, 0.050 ± 0.010, and 0.040 ± 0.014 for the A, B, and C rings, respectively. The best estimates of the ring optical thicknesses are τA = 0.2 ± 0.1, τB = 0.9 ± 0.2, and τC = 0.1 ± 0.1. The actual brightness temperatures, which are affected by the absolute calibration errors, are Tplanet = 178 ± 8, TA = 5.2 ± 2.0, TB = 9.1 ± 1.8, and TC = 7.1 ± 2.6°K. The particle single-scattering albedo that would be most consistent with the observations is slightly less than one, but probably greater than 0.95. The observations are consistent with particles which conservatively scatter the thermal emission from Saturn to the Earth and emit no thermal emission of their own. The 3.71-cm optical depths which we have estimated are very close to the visible wavelength optical depths. This similarity indicates that the ring particles must be at least a few centimeters in size, although we feel that the particles may well be much larger than this in view of the closeness of the visible and microwave optical depths. Particles which are nearly conservative scatterers at our wavelength and at least a few centimeters in size must be composed of a material which is either a very good reflector of microwaves or a very poor absorber of them. At this time, water ice seems to be the most likely candidate since it is a very poor absorber of microwaves and has been detected in the rings spectroscopically. |
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