Matthew S. Tiscareno

Imaging of Titan from the Cassini spacecraft

Titan, the largest moon of Saturn, is the only satellite in the Solar System with a substantial atmosphere. The atmosphere is poorly understood and obscures the surface, leading to intense speculation about Titans nature. Here we present observations of Titan from the imaging science experiment onboard the Cassini spacecraft that address some of these issues. The images reveal intricate surface albedo features that suggest aeolian, tectonic and fluvial processes; they also show a few circular features that could be impact structures. These observations imply that substantial surface modification has occurred over Titans history. We have not directly detected liquids on the surface to date. Convective clouds are found to be common near the south pole, and the motion of mid-latitude clouds consistently indicates eastward winds, from which we infer that the troposphere is rotating faster than the surface. A detached haze at an altitude of 500 km is 150–200 km higher than that observed by Voyager, and more tenuous haze layers are also resolved.

Cassini imaging of Saturn's rings: II. A wavelet technique for analysis of density waves and other radial structure in the rings

We describe a powerful signal processing method, the continuous wavelet transform, and use it to analyze radial structure in Cassini ISS images of Saturn’s rings. Wavelet analysis locally separates signal components in frequency space, causing many structures to become evident that are difficult to observe with the naked eye. Density waves, generated at resonances with saturnian satellites orbiting outside (or within) the rings, are particularly amenable to such analysis. We identify a number of previously unobserved weak waves, and demonstrate the wavelet transform’s ability to isolate multiple waves superimposed on top of one another. We also present two wave-like structures that we are unable to conclusively identify. In a multi-step semi-automated process, we recover four parameters from clearly observed weak spiral density waves: the local ring surface density, the local ring viscosity, the precise resonance location (useful for pointing images, and potentially for refining saturnian astrometry), and the wave amplitude (potentially providing new constraints upon the masses of the perturbing moons). Our derived surface densities have less scatter than previous measurements that were derived from stronger non-linear waves, and suggest a gentle linear increase in surface density from the inner to the mid-A Ring. We show that ring viscosity consistently increases from the Cassini Division outward to the Encke Gap. Meaningful upper limits on ring thickness can be placed on the Cassini Division (3.0 m at r ∼ 118,800 km, 4.5 m at r ∼ 120,700 km) and the inner A Ring (10–15 m for r< 127,000 km).

100-metre-diameter moonlets in Saturn's A ring from observations of 'propeller' structures

Saturns main rings are composed predominantly of water-ice particles ranging between about 1 centimetre and 10 metres in radius. Above this size range, the number of particles drops sharply, according to the interpretation of spacecraft and stellar occultations. Other than the gap moons Pan and Daphnis (the provisional name of S/2005 S1), which have sizes of several kilometres, no individual bodies in the rings have been directly observed, and the population of ring particles larger than ten metres has been essentially unknown. Here we report the observation of four longitudinal double-streaks in an otherwise bland part of the mid-A ring. We infer that these ‘propeller’-shaped perturbations arise from the effects of embedded moonlets approximately 40 to 120 m in diameter. Direct observation of this phenomenon validates models of proto-planetary disks in which similar processes are posited. A population of moonlets, as implied by the size distribution that we find, could help explain gaps in the more tenuous regions of the Cassini division and the C ring. The existence of such large embedded moonlets is most naturally compatible with a ring originating in the break-up of a larger body, but accretion from a circumplanetary disk is also plausible if subsequent growth onto large particles occurs after the primary accretion phase has concluded.

An Evolving View of Saturn’s Dynamic Rings

Saturns Secrets Probed The Cassini spacecraft was launched on 15 October 1997. It took it almost 7 years to reach Saturn, the second-largest planet in the solar system. After almost 6 years of observations of the series of interacting moons, rings, and magnetospheric plasmas, known as the Kronian system, Cuzzi et al. (p. 1470) review our current understanding of Saturns rings—the most extensive and complex in the solar system—and draw parallels with circumstellar disks. Gombosi and Ingersoll (p. 1476; see the cover) review what is known about Saturns atmosphere, ionosphere, and magnetosphere. We review our understanding of Saturn’s rings after nearly 6 years of observations by the Cassini spacecraft. Saturn’s rings are composed mostly of water ice but also contain an undetermined reddish contaminant. The rings exhibit a range of structure across many spatial scales; some of this involves the interplay of the fluid nature and the self-gravity of innumerable orbiting centimeter- to meter-sized particles, and the effects of several peripheral and embedded moonlets, but much remains unexplained. A few aspects of ring structure change on time scales as short as days. It remains unclear whether the vigorous evolutionary processes to which the rings are subject imply a much younger age than that of the solar system. Processes on view at Saturn have parallels in circumstellar disks.

The Structure of Saturn's Rings

Our understanding of the structure of Saturns rings has evolved steadily since their discovery by Galileo Galilei in 1610. With each advance in observations of the rings over the last four centuries, new structure has been revealed, starting with the recognition that the rings are a disk by Huygens in 1656 through discoveries of the broad organization of the main rings and their constituent gaps and ringlets to Cassini observations that indirectly reveal individual clumps of particles tens of meters in size. The variety of structure is as broad as the range in scales. The main rings have distinct characteristics on a spatial scale of 104 km that suggest dramatically different evolution and perhaps even different origins. On smaller scales, the A and C ring and Cassini Division are punctuated by gaps from tens to hundreds of kilometer across, while the B ring is littered with unexplained variations in optical depth on similar scales. Moons are intimately involved with much of the structure in the rings. The outer edges of the A and B rings are shepherded and sculpted by resonances with the Janus—Epimetheus coorbitals and Mimas, respectively. Density waves at the locations of orbital resonances with nearby and embedded moons make up the majority of large-scale features in the A ring. Moons orbiting within the Encke and Keeler gaps in the A ring create those gaps and produce wakes in the nearby ring. Other gaps and wave-like features await explanation. The largest ring particles, while not massive enough to clear a gap, produce localized propeller-shaped disturbances hundreds of meters long. Particles throughout the A and B rings cluster into strands or self-gravity wakes tens of meters across that are in equilibrium between gravitational accretion and Keplerian shear. In the peaks of strong density waves particles pile together in a cosmic traffic jam that results in kilometer-long strands that may be larger versions of self-gravity wakes. The F ring is a showcase of accretion and disruption at the edges of Saturns Roche zone. Clumps and strands form and are disrupted as they encounter each other and are perturbed by close encounters with nearby Prometheus. The menagerie of structures in the rings reveals a system that is dynamic and evolving on timescales ranging from days to tens or hundreds of millions of years. The architecture of the rings thus provides insight to the origin as well as the long and short-term evolution of the rings.

THE POPULATION OF PROPELLERS IN SATURN'S A RING

We present an extensive data set of ∼150 localized features from Cassini images of Saturn’s A ring, a third of which are demonstrated to be persistent by their appearance in multiple images, and half of which are resolved well enough to reveal a characteristic “propeller” shape. We interpret these features as the signatures of small moonlets embedded within the ring, with diameters between 40 and 500 m. The lack of significant brightening at high phase angle indicates that they are likely composed primarily of macroscopic particles, rather than dust. With the exception of two features found exterior to the Encke Gap, these objects are concentrated entirely within three narrow (∼1000 km) bands in the mid-A ring that happen to be free from local disturbances from strong density waves. However, other nearby regions are similarly free of major disturbances but contain no propellers. It is unclear whether these bands are due to specific events in which a parent body or bodies broke up into the current moonlets, or whether a larger initial moonlet population has been sculpted into bands by other ring processes.

The Rotation of Janus and Epimetheus

Abstract Epimetheus, a small moon of Saturn, has a rotational libration (an oscillation about synchronous rotation) of 5.9 ° ± 1.2 ° , placing Epimetheus in the company of Earth’s Moon and Mars’ Phobos as the only natural satellites for which forced rotational libration has been detected. The forced libration is caused by the satellite’s slightly eccentric orbit and non-spherical shape. Detection of a moon’s forced libration allows us to probe its interior by comparing the measured amplitude to that predicted by a shape model assuming constant density. A discrepancy between the two would indicate internal density asymmetries. For Epimetheus, the uncertainties in the shape model are large enough to account for the measured libration amplitude. For Janus, on the other hand, although we cannot rule out synchronous rotation, a permanent offset of several degrees between Janus’ minimum moment of inertia (long axis) and the equilibrium sub-Saturn point may indicate that Janus does have modest internal density asymmetries. The rotation states of Janus and Epimetheus experience a perturbation every 4 years, as the two moons “swap” orbits. The sudden change in the orbital periods produces a free libration about synchronous rotation that is subsequently damped by internal friction. We calculate that this free libration is small in amplitude ( Cassini images.

Observations of ejecta clouds produced by impacts onto Saturn's rings.

Saturns Meteoroid Crash During Saturns equinox in 2009, when the Sun illuminated its rings edge-on, images taken by the Cassini spacecraft showed dust clouds appearing as bright streaks above the rings. Similar streaks were detected in 2005 and 2012 when Cassini observed the C ring at close range. Tiscareno et al. (p. 460) suggest that the cause of each observed feature is likely to be the impact of a stream of recently disrupted material originating from a meteoroid impact onto the ring and derive the influx rate of meteoroids at Saturn. Observations by the Cassini spacecraft provide evidence of meteoroid impacts onto Saturn’s rings. We report observations of dusty clouds in Saturn’s rings, which we interpret as resulting from impacts onto the rings that occurred between 1 and 50 hours before the clouds were observed. The largest of these clouds was observed twice; its brightness and cant angle evolved in a manner consistent with this hypothesis. Several arguments suggest that these clouds cannot be due to the primary impact of one solid meteoroid onto the rings, but rather are due to the impact of a compact stream of Saturn-orbiting material derived from previous breakup of a meteoroid. The responsible interplanetary meteoroids were initially between 1 centimeter and several meters in size, and their influx rate is consistent with the sparse prior knowledge of smaller meteoroids in the outer solar system.

UNRAVELLING TEMPORAL VARIABILITY IN SATURN'S SPIRAL DENSITY WAVES: RESULTS AND PREDICTIONS

We describe a model that accounts for the complex morphology of spiral density waves raised in Saturns rings by the co-orbital satellites, Janus and Epimetheus. Our model may be corroborated by future Cassini observations of these time-variable wave patterns.

Scientific rationale for Saturn׳s in situ exploration

Remote sensing observations meet some limitations when used to study the bulk atmospheric composition of the giant planets of our solar system. A remarkable example of the superiority of in situ probe measurements is illustrated by the exploration of Jupiter, where key measurements such as the determination of the noble gases׳ abundances and the precise measurement of the helium mixing ratio have only been made available through in situ measurements by the Galileo probe. This paper describes the main scientific goals to be addressed by the future in situ exploration of Saturn placing the Galileo probe exploration of Jupiter in a broader context and before the future probe exploration of the more remote ice giants. In situ exploration of Saturn׳s atmosphere addresses two broad themes that are discussed throughout this paper: first, the formation history of our solar system and second, the processes at play in planetary atmospheres. In this context, we detail the reasons why measurements of Saturn׳s bulk elemental and isotopic composition would place important constraints on the volatile reservoirs in the protosolar nebula. We also show that the in situ measurement of CO (or any other disequilibrium species that is depleted by reaction with water) in Saturn׳s upper troposphere may help constraining its bulk O/H ratio. We compare predictions of Jupiter and Saturn׳s bulk compositions from different formation scenarios, and highlight the key measurements required to distinguish competing theories to shed light on giant planet formation as a common process in planetary systems with potential applications to most extrasolar systems. In situ measurements of Saturn׳s stratospheric and tropospheric dynamics, chemistry and cloud-forming processes will provide access to phenomena unreachable to remote sensing studies. Different mission architectures are envisaged, which would benefit from strong international collaborations, all based on an entry probe that would descend through Saturn׳s stratosphere and troposphere under parachute down to a minimum of 10 bar of atmospheric pressure. We finally discuss the science payload required on a Saturn probe to match the measurement requirements.