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Cassini UVIS results from Saturn, Titan, icy satellites and rings LW Esposito and the UVIS team 23 May 2005 American Geophysical Union
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Cassini UV Imaging Spectrograph Spectra and images from 550 -1900A Hydrogen-Deuterium cell measures D/H High speed photometer has 20m resolution Chemistry of Saturn, Titan clouds Exospheres of moons Saturn’s magnetosphere neutrals; thermosphere airglow and aurora Ring origin and evolution
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Rings Summary A Ring has cleanest water ice signature: less contaminants than other rings, particularly C Ring and Cassini Division. Density waves galore: –Dispersion of waves gives ring surface mass density: (Cassini Division) << (A Ring). –New waves seen in Cassini Division and new second order waves observed. Large particle or clump size distributions from occultation statistics: –Largest particles or clumps (~ 10 m) in A ring, increasing outward to Encke Gap, then decreasing. –No significant number of large particles or clumps in C ring, Cassini Division. Correlation between surface mass density and largest particle sizes and (to a lesser extent) ring ice purity. Abrupt density transitions observed ( r<50 m): particle “traffic jam” at perturbed ring edges. Unexplained features observed at high resolution.
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Implications of UVIS observations The rise and fall in abundance of OI between Dec 25, 2003 and May 13, 2004 amounts to ~500 Mkg of mass apparently lost from the system in this period. Mean inferred loss rate of bulge in mass during 2 months is ~4 X10 27 atoms s -1. Total mass of OI + OH in system is ~2200. Mkg. The estimated micron sized particles in the E-ring involved in the Mimas – Tethys region is 600 Mkg.
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Species found in Titan Tb occ CH4 methane C2H2 acetylene C2H4 ethylene C2H6 ethane C4H2 diacetylene HCN hydrogen cyanide
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T-3 Titan FUV Observation February 15, 2005 Start Time: 10:26:52 End Time: 11:34:52 Lyman Alpha Image: 1146 –1271 Å LBH Image: 1286 – 1427 Å Solar Image:1661 – 1913 Å
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Titan Results Differences with INMS show horizontal variations at 1200 km Evidence for diffusive separation at 900 km Mesopause temperature 113K at 615km Heavier hydrocarbons peak at 600 -750 km Discontinuous aurora and haze layers seen
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UVIS H 2 band data on Saturn
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Saturn in atomic and molecular hydrogen emission
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What is the source of the dark material on Iapetus? Does Phoebe material contaminate the LH of Iapetus? –At visible wavelengths, Iapetus’s spectrum is redder than Phoebe’s –What do the UV data contribute to this mystery?
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Iapetus
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Iapetus compared with Phoebe
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Iapetus: Light/Dark Ratio Looks a lot like H 2 O or CO 2 !
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Iapetus reflectance: dark and light terrains Iapetus dark material is dark because of very little frost (H 2 O and CO 2 ), NOT because of a lot of dark material
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Summary: Iapetus vs. Phoebe What can we say about dark material on Iapetus? –It does not look like Phoebe Phoebe material is too H 2 O-rich to match Iapetus dark spectrum, although a good match for bright material! –We need very little H 2 O to model Iapetus dark material Though if Phoebe material (or any other material) coats Iapetus, H 2 O might be lost in the impact process So our results do not discriminate between endogenic and exogenic models for Iapetus dark material –Loss of volatiles might be associated with either process
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UVIS RESULTS FOR MAIN RINGS We summed all SOI spectra from same distance to produce radial profile and color rendition UV spectra show water abundance increasing outward to a peak in outer A ring Rings A and B more icy than ring C and Cassini Division, consistent with VIMS More structure than seen in Voyager and HST images of A ring
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A Ring Particle Properties
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RING HISTORY Large scale variation consistent with meteoritic pollution of initially pure ice Variations over scales of 1000 - 3000 km too narrow to be explained by ballistic transport over the age of rings One or more 20-km moonlets shattered in last 10 -100 million years could do it Same future result from disrupting Pan
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COLLISIONAL CASCADE FROM MOONS TO RINGS Big moons are the source for small moons Small moons are the source of rings Largest fragments shepherd the ring particles Rings and moons spread together, linked by resonances Small moons caught in resonances with larger moons: this slows linked evolution
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COLLISIONAL CASCADE
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EXAMPLE: F RING After parent body disruption, F ring reaches steady state where accretion and knockoff balance (Barbara and Esposito 2002) The ring material not re-collected is equivalent to ~6km moon; about 50 parent bodies coexist… Exponential decay would say half would be gone in 300 my. Considering re-accretion, loss of parents is linear: as smaller particles ground down, they are replaced from parent bodies. The ring lifetime is indefinitely extended
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MARKOV MODEL CONCLUSIONS Although individual rings and moons are ephemeral, ring/moon systems persist Ring systems go through a long quasi-static stage where their optical depth and number of parent bodies slowly declines Below some threshold, recycling declines and the rings are rapidly lost
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Ring Plane Radius (km)
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Bending Waves in Saturn’s Rings 5:3 BW 5:3 DW
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Density Waves
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Period (km) Ring Plane Radius (km) Wavelet Power Spectrum Estimation for Wave Dispersion Provides local surface mass density.
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Titan 1:0 Inner Edge Titan 1:0 Ringlet Inner Edge 29 m resolution 7.2 m res.
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Sharp Edges in the Rings
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Encke Gap Pan Wakes Density Waves
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UVIS data are consistent with active ring/moon recycling Oxygen fluctuations require replacement of E ring grains from parent bodies Radial spectral variations in A ring require multiple reservoirs and recent release of purer ice 20 km embedded moonlets have right lifetimes and mass, given estimated diffusion rates
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Rings Summary A Ring has cleanest water ice signature: less contaminants than other rings, particularly C Ring and Cassini Division. Density waves galore: –Dispersion of waves gives ring surface mass density: (Cassini Division) << (A Ring). Large particle or clump size distributions from occultation statistics: –Largest particles or clumps (~ 10 m) in A ring, increasing outward to Encke Gap, then decreasing. –No significant number of large particles or clumps in C ring, Cassini Division. Correlation between surface mass density and largest particle sizes and (to a lesser extent) ring ice purity. Abrupt density transitions observed ( r<50 m): particle “traffic jam” at perturbed ring edges.
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