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Fluorescent hydroxyl emissions from Saturn's ring atmosphere

D T Hall1, P D Feldman, J B Holberg

  • 1Center for Astrophysical Sciences, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA.

Science (New York, N.Y.)
|April 26, 1996
PubMed
Summary

Saturn

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Area of Science:

  • Planetary Science
  • Spectroscopy
  • Atmospheric Science

Background:

  • Saturn's rings are primarily composed of ice particles.
  • The presence of atmospheres around ring systems is not well understood.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the composition of Saturn's tenuous ring atmosphere.
  • To quantify the abundance and distribution of hydroxyl (OH) molecules in Saturn's ring plane.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized the Hubble Space Telescope Faint Object Spectrograph (FOS).
  • Detected ultraviolet fluorescent emissions from OH molecules.
  • Performed spatial scans above Saturn's A and B rings.

Main Results:

  • Detected a tenuous atmosphere of hydroxyl (OH) molecules enveloping Saturn's rings.
  • Observed decreasing brightness with increasing distance above the rings, indicating a scale height of approximately 0.45 Saturn radii (Rs).
  • Measured OH column densities of ~10(13) cm(-2) and number densities up to 700 cm(-3) above the A and B rings.

Conclusions:

  • Saturn's rings possess a tenuous OH atmosphere.
  • The rings must produce an estimated 10(25) to 10(29) OH molecules per second to sustain this atmosphere.

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