HR: 09:50h
AN: P51C-09 [Abstracts]
TI: Stream Particles as Messengers from Saturn's Rings
AU: * Kempf, S
EM: Sascha.Kempf@mpi-hd.mpg.de
AF: MPI for nuclear physics, Saupfercheckweg 1, Heidelberg, 69117
Germany
AU: Srama, R
EM: Ralf.Srama@mpi-hd.mpg.de
AF: MPI for nuclear physics, Saupfercheckweg 1, Heidelberg, 69117
Germany
AU: Hor\'anyi, M
EM: horanyi@argos.colorado.edu
AF: LASP, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309
United States
AU: Burton, M
EM: marcia.burton@jpl.nasa.gov
AF: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 4800 Oak Grove Dr., Pasadena, CA 91109
United States
AU: Moragas-Klostermeyer, G
EM: georg.moragas@mpi-hd.mpg.de
AF: MPI for nuclear physics, Saupfercheckweg 1, Heidelberg, 69117
Germany
AU: Roy, M
EM: MOU.ROY@jpl.nasa.gov
AF: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 4800 Oak Grove Dr., Pasadena, CA 91109
United States
AU: Gr\"un, E
EM: Eberhard.Gruen@mpi-hd.mpg.de
AF: MPI for nuclear physics, Saupfercheckweg 1, Heidelberg, 69117
Germany
AB:
Beginning in 2004 when the Cassini spacecraft was closer to Saturn than 1200
$\mathrm{R_S}$ (Saturn radius $\mathrm{R_S} = 60\,330$ km), the on-board dust
sensor, CDA discovered a few streams of tiny ($< 20$ nm), high-velocity dust particles.
A detailed analysis of the impact signals revealed that the registered particles were expelled from within the Saturnian
system at speeds exceeding 100 km\,s$^{-1}$. Such impact velocities can only be explained if the particles
were released from the outskirts of Saturn's A ring. An interesting
consequence of this result is that material from the dense inner rings can be
analysed by in-situ dust detectors like the CDA.
Until the end of August 2004, the dust instrument obtained about 400 time-of-flight
mass spectra of stream particles. There is clear indication that the bulk material
of the stream particles has to be a silicate. This implies that Saturnian stream
particles are rather the inclusions of ring material than the ice particles itself.
DE: 5759 Rings and dust
DE: 6008 Composition
DE: 6015 Dust
SC: Planetary Sciences [P]
MN: 2004 AGU Fall Meeting