Monday, May 23, 2005
This Is Radio Saturn
NASA reported today that its Cassini spacecraft has obtained the most detailed look ever at Saturn's rings, including the B ring, which has eluded previous robotic explorers.
"All ring features appear to be populated by a broad range of particle sizes that extend to many meters in diameter at the upper end," said Dr. Essam Marouf, Cassini team member.
Marouf said in a NASA press release that "at the lower end, particles of about 5 centimeters (roughly 2 inches" seem to abundant in the outer rings.
NASA said that "the inner and outer parts of ring B contain rings that are hundreds of kilometers wide (hundreds of miles) and vary greatly in the amount of material they contain. A thick, 5,000-kilometer-wide (3,100-mile) core contains several bands with ring material that is nearly four times as dense as that of ring A and nearly 20 times as dense as that of ring C."
Cassini analyzed the rings by beaming radio signals through the rings to Earth. "Scientists then watch how the strength of the radio signal is affected as the signal passes through ring material," NASA said. "The denser a ring is, the weaker the signal received. The experiment helps scientists map the distribution of the amount of ring material and determine the ring particle sizes."
From edge-to-edge, the ring system is wider than the gap between Earth and the Moon. But the rings are only 30 meters thick, or 100 feet. This is the first of many such observations Cassini will be conducting over the summer.
"All ring features appear to be populated by a broad range of particle sizes that extend to many meters in diameter at the upper end," said Dr. Essam Marouf, Cassini team member.
Marouf said in a NASA press release that "at the lower end, particles of about 5 centimeters (roughly 2 inches" seem to abundant in the outer rings.
NASA said that "the inner and outer parts of ring B contain rings that are hundreds of kilometers wide (hundreds of miles) and vary greatly in the amount of material they contain. A thick, 5,000-kilometer-wide (3,100-mile) core contains several bands with ring material that is nearly four times as dense as that of ring A and nearly 20 times as dense as that of ring C."
Cassini analyzed the rings by beaming radio signals through the rings to Earth. "Scientists then watch how the strength of the radio signal is affected as the signal passes through ring material," NASA said. "The denser a ring is, the weaker the signal received. The experiment helps scientists map the distribution of the amount of ring material and determine the ring particle sizes."
From edge-to-edge, the ring system is wider than the gap between Earth and the Moon. But the rings are only 30 meters thick, or 100 feet. This is the first of many such observations Cassini will be conducting over the summer.
