 Back |
Next
|
Structure
of Rings
-
Why didn't Saturn's rings
for a moon?
-
Rings are too close to Saturn
-
Large gravitationally bound
structures can't exist inside a critical radius
-
Roche limit
-
Tidal forces rip them apart
-
We exist inside Earth's Roche
limit.
-
Why aren't we ripped apart
by tidal forces?
-
We
aren't gravitationally bound
-
our
bodies are held together by chemical bonds
-
Voyager
showed rings are composed of many ringlets
-
Rings
are as little as 10 km thick!
-
Backlighting
shows gaps have particles not 1 cm to 5 m but 1 mm
(dust/smoke)
Saturn
Jupiter's
ring
Ringlets
seen from Voyager (Sunward side)
F-ring
Rings
backlit by Sun. Cassini division is white,
B-ring
is purple
| Back |
Next
|