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Saturn and its moons

Saturn and its moons. Photo taken by Cassini Spacecraft. Orbital period = 29.5 Earth years So as we go around the Sun, we s ee the rings with different tilts. Saturn’s Rings. Very thin Icy particles (water ice) 1cm – 5m Rings are probably moons which are inside the “Roche limit”

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Saturn and its moons

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  1. Saturn and its moons Photo taken by Cassini Spacecraft

  2. Orbital period = 29.5 Earth years So as we go around the Sun, we see the rings with different tilts

  3. Saturn’s Rings • Very thin • Icy particles (water ice) 1cm – 5m • Rings are probably moons which are inside the “Roche limit” • Cassini’s divisions: Gaps in the rings, caused by resonances with the moons of Saturn Earth-based Telescope picture of Saturn

  4. Spacecraft View of Ring Gaps

  5. Artist’s Conception of Rings Close-Up

  6. Gap Moons • Some small moons create gaps within rings.

  7. Shepherd Moons • A pair of small moons can force particles into a narrow ring.

  8. Resonance Gaps • Orbital resonance with a larger moon can also produce a gap.

  9. Spokes

  10. How do other jovian ring systems compare to Saturn’s?

  11. Jovian Ring Systems • All four jovian planets have ring systems. • Others have smaller, darker ring particles than Saturn.

  12. Why do the jovian planets have rings?

  13. Why do the jovian planets have rings? • They formed from dust created in impacts on moons orbiting those planets. How do we know?

  14. How do we know? • Rings aren’t leftover from planet formation because the particles are too small to have survived for so long. • There must be a continuous replacement of tiny particles. • The most likely source is impacts with jovian moons.

  15. Ring Formation • Jovian planets all have rings because they possess many small moons close in. • Impacts on these moons are random. • Saturn’s incredible rings may be an “accident” of our time.

  16. What have we learned? • What are Saturn’s rings like? • They are made up of countless individual ice particles. • They are extremely thin with many gaps. • How do other jovian ring systems compare to Saturn’s? • The other jovian planets have much fainter ring systems with smaller, darker, less numerous particles. • Why do the jovian planets have rings? • Ring particles are probably debris from moons.

  17. Saturn’s Moons • Titan: • Only moon in the solar system with an atmosphere • 1.5x pressure of the Earth’s atmosphere

  18. Titan’s Atmosphere • Titan is the only moon in the solar system to have a thick atmosphere. • It consists mostly of nitrogen with some argon, methane, and ethane. • ethane is a greenhouse gas  Titan is warmer than it would be without ethane but still 180C

  19. Titan’s Surface • Huygens probe provided first look at Titan’s surface in early 2005. • It found liquid methane and “rocks” made of ice.

  20. Medium Moons of Saturn • Almost all of them show evidence of past volcanism and/or tectonics.

  21. Medium Moons of Saturn • Ice fountains of Enceladus suggest it may have a subsurface ocean.

  22. Aurorae on Saturn Probably debris from moons, not solar wind excite Saturn’s aurorae

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