Thermal response of Saturn's ring particles during and after eclipse

Abstract

The investigation is based on data which were obtained on May 18, 1978, at the 5-m Hale telescope on Palomar Mountain. A Ge:Ga bolometer was used at the f/70 Gregorian focus; a cold interference filter limited the wavelength response to between 16 and 26 micrometers. A brightness asymmetry is observed between the ansae of all three rings; the largest asymmetry occurs in the C ring. The simplest explanation of such asymmetries is just the eclipse cooling and subsequent heating of similar particles at different radial distances from Saturn, coupled with the different travel times from eclipse exit to east ansa. The observed eclipse cooling and subsequent heating in Saturn's B ring support the idea that the uppermost surface of the particles is of low-conductivity water frost, similar to the uppermost surface of the Galilean satellites (omitting Io).