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Speaking of hiding in an asteroid belt: How big and how far apart are the objects in Saturn's rings? I can't find a discussion of it except for an oblique menti

Speaking of hiding in an asteroid belt: How big and how far apart are the objects in Saturn's rings? I can't find a discussion of it except for an oblique mention in Wikipedia's article that they can get up to 2km in size.

cshimmin 11y ago
I am interested in your question as well, so I did some digging! According to wikipedia's article on Saturn's rings [1], the "main rings" are composed mostly of particles ranging from ~1cm to 10m in size. Apparently observations of the "F ring" are consistent with particles ranging from microns to centimeters [2]: "Comparison of optical depth profiles across the F Ring... indicates that centimeter-sized particles are the dominant source of opacity in a core ∼ 1km wide, while the micrometer-sized dust dominates in a much wider “envelope” that extends inward from the core." The "E ring" seems to be composed predominantly of micron-sized grains, and is presumed to be fed by dust coming from Enceladus [3] [4]. I am not an astroplatentary scientist so I had to look up a map of Saturn's rings [5], apparently the E ring is very diffuse, and F is on the outside of the visible bands. [1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rings_of_Saturn#C_Ring https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rings_of_Saturn#C_Ring [2] - http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/001910359290107I http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/00191035929... [3] - http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/001910359290131P http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/00191035929... [4] - http://www.sciencemag.org/content/311/5766/1416.short http://www.sciencemag.org/content/311/5766/1416.short [5] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rings_of_Saturn#/media/File:Saturn%27s_Rings_PIA03550.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rings_of_Saturn#/media/File:Sa...
yrro 11y ago
This makes them look pretty close together: https://youtu.be/qnApR8fdKRo?t=128 https://youtu.be/qnApR8fdKRo?t=128

cshimmin 11y ago

I am interested in your question as well, so I did some digging! According to wikipedia's article on Saturn's rings [1], the "main rings" are composed mostly of particles ranging from ~1cm to 10m in size. Apparently observations of the "F ring" are consistent with particles ranging from microns to centimeters [2]: "Comparison of optical depth profiles across the F Ring... indicates that centimeter-sized particles are the dominant source of opacity in a core ∼ 1km wide, while the micrometer-sized dust dominates in a much wider “envelope” that extends inward from the core." The "E ring" seems to be composed predominantly of micron-sized grains, and is presumed to be fed by dust coming from Enceladus [3] [4]. I am not an astroplatentary scientist so I had to look up a map of Saturn's rings [5], apparently the E ring is very diffuse, and F is on the outside of the visible bands. [1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rings_of_Saturn#C_Ring https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rings_of_Saturn#C_Ring [2] - http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/001910359290107I http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/00191035929... [3] - http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/001910359290131P http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/00191035929... [4] - http://www.sciencemag.org/content/311/5766/1416.short http://www.sciencemag.org/content/311/5766/1416.short [5] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rings_of_Saturn#/media/File:Saturn%27s_Rings_PIA03550.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rings_of_Saturn#/media/File:Sa...

yrro 11y ago

This makes them look pretty close together: https://youtu.be/qnApR8fdKRo?t=128 https://youtu.be/qnApR8fdKRo?t=128