Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 6, 2026

Analyzing the Movement of the Nauplius 'Artemia salina' by Optical Tracking of Plasmonic Nanoparticles
Published on: July 15, 2014
Neptune's partial rings: action of galatea on self-gravitating arc particles
1Division of Astronomy, Department of Physical Sciences, University of Oulu, FIN-90570 Oulu, Finland.
Abstract:
Numerical simulations of Neptune's arcs show that self-gravity between macroscopic arc particles can prevent interparticle impacts and thereby stabilize their resonant confinement by Galatea, a satellite of Neptune. Stable subkilometer arc particles provide a source for replenishing the observed dust and explain the clumpy substructure seen in arcs. A few confining kilometer-sized particles between the major arc components can account for the observed arc widths spanning several resonance sites. The modeled distribution of dust is consistent with observations and helps to explain how embedded satellites may affect the structure and evolution of planetary ring systems.
Related Concept Videos
Newton's Law of Gravitation
Gravity between Spherical Bodies
This assumption can be proved easily by showing that the expression for gravitational potential energy between a hollow sphere of mass (M) and a point mass (m) is the same as it would be for a pair of extended...
Tidal Forces
Newton's Law of Gravitational Attraction
Newton's law of gravitational attraction is a fundamental law of physics that governs the attraction between objects. It states that the magnitude of the gravitational force between any two objects is proportional to their masses and inversely proportional...
Gravitational Potential Energy for Extended Objects
Gravitation

