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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 397 records · Page 22
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NASA NTRS1977

The brightness temperatures of Saturn and its rings at 39 microns

The relative rings-to-disk brightness (specific intensity) of Saturn at 39 microns was resolved using a 224-cm telescope, and the total flux of Saturn relative to Jupiter in the same bandpass was measured from the NASA Learjet Observatory. These two measurements, which were made with Saturn's rings near maximum inclination, determine the disk and average ring (A and B) brightness in terms of an absolute flux calibration of Jupiter in the same bandpass. While present uncertainties in Jupiter's absolute calibration make it impossible to compare existing measurements unambiguously, it is nevertheless possible to conclude the following: (1) observations between 20 and 40 microns are all compatible (within 2 sigmas) with a disk brightness temperature of 94 K and do not agree with the radiative equilibrium models of Trafton (1967); (2) the rings at large tilt contribute a flux component comparable to that of the planet itself for wavelengths not exceeding about 40 microns; and (3) there is a decrease of approximately 22% in the relative ring:disk brightness between effective wavelengths of 33.5 and 39 microns.

Nolt, I. G.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Size distribution of particles in planetary rings

Harris (1975) has suggested that the maximum size of particles in a planetary ring is controlled by collisional fragmentation rather than tidal stress. While this conclusion is probably true, estimated radius limits must be revised upward from Harris' values of a few kilometers by at least an order of magnitude. Accretion of particles within the Roche limit is also possible. These considerations affect theories concerning the evolution of Saturn's rings, of the moon, and of possible former satellites of Mercury and Venus. In the case of Saturn's rings, comparison of various theoretical scenarios with available observational evidence suggests that the rings formed from the breakup of larger particles rather than from original condensation as small particles. This process implies a distribution of particle sizes in Saturn's rings possibly ranging up to about 100 km but with most of the cross section in centimeter-scale particles.

Greenberg, R.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Uranus rings - An optical search

The discovery of rings surrounding Uranus has prompted reexamination of telescopic observations made a year ago with a solid-state area detector called a charge-coupling device (CCD). The extreme narrowness of the rings apparently caused them to be hidden in glare from the planet, the reflectivity of which is very high in the blue and green regions of the spectrum. However, Uranus appears as a much darker image in the near-infrared spectral regions detected by the CCD. Although no direct evidence of the rings is obtainable from the CCD images, some simplifying assumptions permit the deduction from the CCD data that average reflectivity of individual particles composing the rings is at most a few percent, much closer to that of carbonaceous chondritic material than to that of the ice-coated particles in Saturn's rings.

Smith, B. A.↗
NASA NTRS1970

Helmet latching and attaching ring

A neck ring releasably secured to a pressurized garment carries an open-ended ring normally in the engagement position fitted into an annular groove and adapted to fit into a complementary annular groove formed in a helmet. Camming means formed on the inner surface at the end of the helmet engages the open-ended ring to retract the same and allow for one motion donning even when the garment is pressurized. A projection on the end of the split ring is engageable to physically retract the split ring.

Chase, E. W.↗
NASA NTRS1978

A ring-source model for jet noise

A model consisting of two ring sources was developed to study the direct radiation of jet noise in terms of correlation, coherence, and phase and also to aid in solving the inverse radiation problem of determining the noise source in terms of far-field measurements. The rings consist of discrete sources which are either monopoles or quadrupoles with Gaussian profiles. Only adjacent sources, both within the rings and between rings, are correlated. Results show that from the far-field information can be used to determine when the sources are compact or noncompact with respect to the acoustic wavelength and to distinguish between the types of sources. In addition, from the inverse radiation approach, the center of mass, the location and separation distance of the ring, and the diameters can be recovered.

Maestrello, L.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Saturn's ring and nearby faint satellites

Observations of Saturn's rings during passage of the Earth through the ring plane, coupled with those of others, suggest a ring thickness of 1.3 plus or minus 0.3 km. The wide disparity in the optical depth of Cassini's division found by other investigators is resolved, and for conservative isotropic single scattering, a normal optical depth for Cassini's division of 0.060 plus or minus 0.006 is obtained. We find the mean normal optical depth of ring C to be 0.074 plus or minus 0.007. Analysis of all available observations of faint objects near Saturn indicates the presence of at least one previously undiscovered satellite of Saturn. The orbit for Janus determined by Dollfus is supported. These satellites may be major members of an extended ring.

Fountain, J. W.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Observations of the Saturn D ring

Observations of Saturn at both large and small phase angles were obtained in the 890-nm methane band with a solid state charge coupled device (CCD). When model intensity profiles are convolved with appropriate point spread functions, intensity levels ranging from 5 to 3% of the maximum of ring B are required in the ring D region of the models to match the data, in substantial agreement with previous results obtained through photographic photometry. The normal optical thickness of the D ring is about 0.02 and seems to show the same phase function as the other rings. The division between the C and D ring was not observed, possibly due to the seeing limited image resolution.

Larson, S. M.↗
NASA NTRS1979

The vertical structure and thickness of Saturn's rings

The steady state thickness and vertical structure of Saturn's rings are discussed with regard to whether a collapse to a monolayer due to particle collisions may be prevented by various mechanisms. The differences between thick rings and wavy monolayers are outlined and used to show that such coherent perturbations to the rings as satellite and solar gravitational effects would produce a wavy monolayer while such dispersive mechanisms as meteoroid impact, radiation pressure, Kepler shear and radial spreading, which would produce the random particle motions necessary to maintain a thick layer, are probably insignificant. Given a typical power law distribution of particle sizes, it is found that gravitational scattering of small particles by large ones would maintain a ring thickness of several times the radius of the largest particles. A steady state ring thickness of 20 to 50 meters, derived from energy considerations, would imply a maximum particle size of a few meters.

Cuzzi, J. N.↗
NASA NTRS1979

The rings of Saturn and Uranus

Saturn has bright, broad rings separated by narrow gaps, while the rings of Uranus are dark, narrow and widely spaced. Presumably, both sets of rings lie inside the Roche limit, which is why the ring material has not condensed into satellites. This paper briefly reviews what is known about each ring system, with emphasis on properties of significance to dynamical astronomy.

Goldreich, P.↗
NASA NTRS1979

The rings of Uranus - Nature and origin

Effects of a resonance between a set of ring particles and individual satellites are considered. It is suggested that the resonances are 1:1 for the rings of Uranus and that each ring must contain an as-yet unseen satellite. A model is proposed in which the rings of Uranus were caused by small satellites that entered the Roche zone due to tidal drag. According to this model, the satellites gradually lost material from their surfaces in this zone, the particles left a satellite with relatively low speeds and must have entered orbits similar to that of the satellite, and the gravitational force of the satellite compelled these particles to remain in a narrow sharply defined ring.

Dermott, S. F.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Precession of the epsilon ring of Uranus

It is noted that the outer and inner boundaries of the epsilon ring of Uranus can be fitted by aligned Keplerian ellipses. Four possible mechanisms for maintaining uniform precession in the epsilon ring are considered: the ring's self-gravity, precession due to a satellite, smooth pressure gradients, and shocklike phenomena. It is proposed that apse alignment is maintained by the self-gravity of the ring. In this case, a ring mass of approximately 5 x 10 to the 18th g and a mean surface density at quadrature of about 25 g/sq cm are estimated.

Goldreich, P.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Saturn's rings - 3-mm observations and derived properties

Three-millimeter Saturn observations, obtained from 1965 through 1977 and with Jupiter as a reference, have been used to derive a ring brightness temperature of 18 + or - 8 K. The brightness temperature of the disk of Saturn is 156 + or - 9 K. Part of the ring brightness (approximately 6 K) may be accounted for as disk emission which is scattered from the rings; the remainder (12 + or - 8K) is attributed to ring particle thermal emission. Because this thermal component brightness temperature is so much less than the particle physical temperature, limits are placed on the mean size and composition of the ring particles. In particular, as found by others, the particles cannot be rocky, but must be either metallic or composed of extremely low-loss dielectric material such as water ice. If the particles are pure water ice, for example, then a simple slab model and a multiple-scattering model both give upper limits to the particle sizes of approximately 1 m, a value three times smaller than previously available. The multiple-scattering model gives a particle single-scattering albedo at 3 mm of 0.83 + or - 0.13.

Epstein, E. E.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Physical studies of the planetary rings

In this review paper, the physical properties of the Saturnian and Uranian rings as derived from ground-based observations are first discussed. Focus is then shifted to the study of the orbital dynamics of the ring particles. Numerical simulations of the evolutionary history of a system of colliding particles in differential rotation together with theoretical modeling of the inelastic collision processes are surveyed. In anticipation of the information returned from in situ measurements by space probes, interactions of the planetary rings with the interplanetary meteoroids and planetary magnetospheres are briefly considered. Finally, models of planetary ring origin are examined. In this connection, some recent work on the satellite resonant perturbation effects on the ring structure are also touched upon.

Ip, W.-H.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Radar observations of Saturn's rings at intermediate tilt angles

The 12.6-cm-wavelength radar observations of Saturn's rings, corresponding to ring-plane tilt angles of 18.2, 11.7, and 5.6 degrees, respectively, are reported. Measurements of geometric albedo and circular polarization ratio are used to investigate acceptable ring models and radar scattering properties of individual particles. Attention is given to the dependence of the rings' polarization properties on wavelength or tilt angle, or both. All large-particle monolayer models of Saturn's rings are ruled out; however, extended-layer models postulating ice or metal particles are compatible with the radar albedo measurements and are less severely restricted by the polarization data.

Ostro, S. J.↗
NASA NTRS1980

The 20-micron brightness temperature of the unilluminated side of Saturn's rings

Observations of the 20-micron brightness temperature of the unilluminated (north) side of Saturn's rings are presented and discussed in terms of models of B ring heating. Observations centered on the B ring ansae were made at 19.8 microns by the 3-m IR telescope facility on Mauna Kea during a period when the unilluminated side of the rings could be observed from earth. Flux measurements indicate a 20-micron brightness temperature of 56 + or - 1 K, in agreement with that measured at 45 microns by Pioneer 11. Under the assumptions that the emission of the Cassini division is negligible and that the ring brightness temperature is close to the actual temperature, it is shown that the brightness temperature can be accounted for by heating by the disk of Saturn, and is proportional to the sine of the Saturnicentric declination of the sun.

Tokunaga, A. T.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Kinematics and dynamics of vortex rings in a tube

Kinematic theory and flow visualization experiments were combined to examine the dynamic processes which control the evolution of vortex rings from very low to very high Reynolds numbers, and to assess the effects of the wall as a vortex ring travels up a tube. The kinematic relationships among the size, shape, speed, and strength of vortex rings in a tube were computed from the theory. Relatively simple flow visualization measurements were used to calculate the total circulation of a vortex rings at a given time. Using this method, the strength was computated and plotted as a function of time for experimentally produced vortex rings. Reynolds number relationships are established and quantitative differences among the three Reynolds number groups are discussed.

Brasseur, J. G.↗
NASA NTRS1981

The origin of the eccentricities of the rings of Uranus

The effect of gravitational perturbations from a nearby satellite on the eccentricity e of a narrow particulate ring is considered. The perturbations near a resonance in an eccentric ring may be divided into corotation and Lindblad terms. For small e, the corotation terms damp e, whereas the Lindblad terms excite e. In the absence of saturation the corotation terms win by a small margin, and e damps. However, if the perturbations open gaps at the strongest resonances, then the Lindblad terms win, and e grows. This result offers an explanation for the existence of both circular and eccentric rings around Uranus. It is also shown that eccentricity changes induced by circular rings on eccentric satellite orbits are similar to those induced by satellites with circular orbits on eccentric rings.

Goldreich, P.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Some possible effects of Jupiter's rings on the Jovian inner plasmasphere

The ionospheric plasma density on magnetic field lines threading the Jovian rings which are located inside approximately 1.8 Jupiter radii on the jovigraphic equatorial plane is calculated by using a rotating ion exosphere model. It is found that the bulk of the ionospheric particles on these field lines are on ballistic trajectories. On field lines approximately symmetric with respect to the jovigraphic equator, the ring, which to a first approximation would absorb the population of trapped particles, consequently has little effect. On field lines which are made asymmetric by the higher-order multipoles of Jupiter's field and the tilt of the dipole axis, the rings may have a significant effect. It is suggested that better definition of the rings' atmospheric and ionospheric properties is required to model these localized effects. If the rings are found to be an important plasma source for the inner magnetosphere, the present exospheric model will have to be revised.

Luhmann, J. G.↗