Origin and Evolution of Saturn's Ring System

Abstract

The origin and long-term evolution of Saturn's rings is still an unsolved problem in modern planetary science. In this chapter we review the current state of our knowledge on this long-standing question for the main rings (A, Cassini Division, B, C), the F Ring, and the diffuse rings (E and G). During the Voyager era, models of evolutionary processes affecting the rings on long time scales (erosion, viscous spreading, accretion, ballistic transport, etc.) had suggested that Saturn's rings are not older than 100 My. In addition, Saturn's large system of diffuse rings has been thought to be the result of material loss from one or more of Saturn's satellites. In the Cassini era, high spatial and spectral resolution data have allowed progress to be made on some of these questions. Discoveries such as the ''propellers'' in the A ring, the shape of ring-embedded moonlets, the clumps in the F Ring, and Enceladus' plume provide new constraints on evolutionary processes in Saturn's rings. At the same time, advances in numerical simulations over the last 20 years have opened the way to realistic models of the rings's fine scale structure, and progress in our understanding of the formation of the Solar System provides a better-defined historical context in which to understand ring formation. All these elements have important implications for the origin and long-term evolution of Saturn's rings. They strengthen the idea that Saturn's rings are very dynamical and rapidly evolving, while new arguments suggest that the rings could be older than previously believed, provided that they are regularly renewed. Key evolutionary processes, timescales and possible scenarios for the rings's origin are reviewed in the light of t

Chapter 17 of the book ''Saturn After Cassini-Huygens'' Saturn from Cassini-Huygens, Dougherty, M.K.; Esposito, L.W.; Krimigis, S.M. (Ed.) (2009) 537-575

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Cited by in corpus (12)

• Long-term & large-scale viscous evolution of dense planetary rings
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• Detecting ring systems around exoplanets using high resolution spectroscopy: the case of 51Pegb
• Tidal disruption of satellites and formation of narrow rings
• The effect of close-in giant planets' evolution on tidal-induced migration of exomoons
• Planetary Rings
• A recent impact origin of Saturn's rings and mid-sized moons
• Harvesting the decay energy of ${}^{26}$Al to drive lightning discharge in protoplanetary discs
• Evolution of a ring around the Pluto-Charon binary
• The ballistic transport instability in Saturn's rings I: formalism and linear theory
• Rings in the Solar System: a short review
• Observed tidal evolution of Kleopatra's outer satellite