On the formation of Saturn's rings |
| |
| Authors: | Kari Lumme |
| |
| Institution: | (1) University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland |
| |
| Abstract: | It is shown that the formation of Saturn's ring C can be explained by the action of solar radiation pressure on the small ring particles. If the age of the rings is 1.6×108 yr, the predicted optical thickness of ring C, as a function of the distance from the planet, can then be shown to be in agreement with the measured one. The disruption of a solid satellite as the origin of the rings is shown to be quite plausible. If, in Roche's limit, the molecular cohesion is taken into account, the disruption distance of a satellite having the mass of the rings seems to be in agreement with the average distance of the ring system. |
| |
| Keywords: | |
| 本文献已被 SpringerLink 等数据库收录！ |
|
