Journal
PLANETARY SCIENCE JOURNAL
Volume 2, Issue 4, Pages -Publisher
IOP Publishing Ltd
DOI: 10.3847/PSJ/ac0340
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Funding
- NASA Cassini Data Analysis Program [NNX15AQ67G]
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Saturn's E ring is composed of micron-sized particles ejected from Enceladus due to the moon's geological activity. Various small-scale structures in the E ring's brightness are attributed to recent material launched from Enceladus. The presence of wake structures near Enceladus's orbit could provide valuable insights into the orbital properties and evolution of E-ring particles, particularly those with low eccentricities and semimajor axes just outside of Enceladus's orbit.
Saturn's E ring consists of micron-sized particles launched from Enceladus by that moon's geological activity. A variety of small-scale structures in the E ring's brightness have been attributed to tendrils of material recently launched from Enceladus. However, one of these features occurs at a location where Enceladus's gravitational perturbations should concentrate background E-ring particles into structures known as satellite wakes. While satellite wakes have been observed previously in ring material drifting past other moons, these E-ring structures would be the first examples of wakes involving particles following horseshoe orbits near Enceladus's orbit. The predicted intensity of these wake signatures is particularly sensitive to the fraction E-ring particles on orbits with low eccentricities and semimajor axes just outside of Enceladus's orbit, and so detailed analyses of these and other small-scale E-ring features should place strong constraints on the orbital properties and evolution of E-ring particles.
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