PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS AND NON-KEPLERIAN ORBITAL MOTION OF “PROPELLER” MOONS EMBEDDED IN SATURN’S RINGS
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We report the discovery of several large "propeller" moons in the outer part of Saturn's A ring, objects large enough to be followed over the 5 year duration of the Cassini mission. These are the first objects ever discovered that can be tracked as individual moons, but do not orbit in empty space. We infer sizes up to 1–2 km for the unseen moonlets at the center of the propeller-shaped structures, though many structural and photometric properties of propeller structures remain unclear. Finally, we demonstrate that some propellers undergo sustained non-Keplerian orbit motion.
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Previous theoretical analyses of migration in Saturn's rings have concentrated on the non-Keplerian, radial motion of propeller moonlets within the A ring.
“Previous theoretical analyses of migration in Saturn's rings have concentrated on the non-Keplerian, radial motion of propeller moonlets within the A ring (Tiscareno et al. 2010).”
From MIGRATION OF SMALL MOONS IN SATURN's RINGS (2013) · cites this paper as Tiscareno et al. 2010
The rings contain many 0.1-1 km moonlets that could easily migrate through the disk.
“Aside from countless centimeter-to meter-sized particles (e.g., Cuzzi et al. 2009), the rings contain many 0.1-1 km moonlets that could easily migrate through the disk (Tiscareno et al. 2010).”
From MIGRATION OF SMALL MOONS IN SATURN's RINGS (2013) · cites this paper as Tiscareno et al. 2010
This motion may complicate interpretations of non-Keplerian motion of moonlets within the ring.
“Aside from complicating the measurement of a moonlet's orbital elements within our simulations, this motion may complicate interpretations of non-Keplerian motion of moonlets within the ring (e.g., Blériot, Tiscareno et al. 2010).”
From MIGRATION OF SMALL MOONS IN SATURN's RINGS (2013) · cites this paper as Tiscareno et al. 2010
At least one larger moonlet, Blériot, shows non-Keplerian motion, with a drift rate that varies in time.
“At least one larger moonlet, Blériot, shows non-Keplerian motion (Tiscareno et al. 2010), with a drift rate that varies in time.”
From MIGRATION OF SMALL MOONS IN SATURN's RINGS (2013) · cites this paper as Tiscareno et al. 2010
Moonlets have a range of sizes up to about r_H ∼ 1.5 km.
“Moonlets have a range of sizes up to about r H ∼ 1.5 km (Tiscareno et al. 2008(Tiscareno et al. , 2010)).”
From MIGRATION OF SMALL MOONS IN SATURN's RINGS (2013) · cites this paper as Tiscareno et al. 2010
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- Authors
- Tiscareno, M. S., Burns, J. A., Sremčević, M., Beurle, K., Hedman, M. M., Cooper, N. J., Milano, A. J., Evans, M. W., Porco, C. C., Spitale, J. N., & Weiss, J. W.
- Affiliations
- Cornell University (US)
- University of Colorado Boulder (US)
- Queen Mary University of London (GB)
- Space Science Institute (US)
- Venue
- The Astrophysical Journal
- Publisher
- American Astronomical Society
- Published
- 2010-07-08
- Volume
- 718
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- L92-L96
- ISSN
- 2041-8205 (ISSN-L)
- 2041-8213
- OpenAlex
- W1995248533
- Cited by
- 71
- References
- 16
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 3 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 28 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 6 · 2012: 3
- FWCI
- 4.11
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- The Astrophysical Journal Letters (publishedVersion)
- arXiv (Cornell University) (publishedVersion)
- arXiv (Cornell University)
- Funders
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NNX10AG67G, NNX08AQ72G)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Astro and Planetary Science
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Aerospace Engineering › Space Satellite Systems and Control
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies
- Keywords
- Saturn rings, moonlets, ring-moon interactions, ring structure, Cassini observations
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