Rings and Natural Satellites

AS3141 Benda Kecil dalam Tata Surya

Prodi Astronomi 2007/2008
B. Dermawan
Planetary rings
 Saturns rings

Main structures: A and B rings, separated by the Cassini

Division (2:1 resonance with satellite Mimas)
The outer part of the A ring hosts the Encke Division, which is
cleared by satellite Pan
The C and D rings are broad, faint structures interior to the B
ring (D ring unobservable from Earth)
The E ring is very wide and diffuse, fed by volcanic ejecta from
satellite Enceladus
The F and G rings are very narrow; the F ring is shepherded by
satellites Prometheus and Pandora
 Co-orbiting satellites
An object B orbiting very close to another
object A about the same planet in nearly
circular orbits performs a horseshoe orbit due
to the mutual gravitational attraction
Example: Saturns co-orbiting satellites
Janus and Epimetheus
 Fine structure of the rings

All the major ring

components exhibit a
fine pattern of radial
density variation with
rather high contrast,
giving them the
appearance of a
gramophone record

Voyager 2 false-color picture of Saturns rings

 Apparent repulsion

- a small particle B orbiting

near a larger object A
experiences a
hyperbolic deflection
when passing near A.
- This leads to loss or gain
of angular momentum,
causing the orbit of B to
be repelled from A
Gap clearing & shepherding

Satellite Pan
orbiting inside
the Encke
Division

Satellites
Prometheus
and Pandora orbit on
the inner resp. outer
side of the F ring
 Jupiters rings

Even the Main Ring is very faint

All rings are strongly forward scattering and consist of
very small particles
The Halo is inside the main ring, and the two
Gossamer rings are outside
All the inner satellites are connected to the ring
structures
Jupiters main ring

Voyager picture taken in the direction of the Sun

 Jupiters inner moons

Metis (diam. 40 km) is embedded in the main ring

Adrastea (diam. 20 km) is at the main rings outer
edge
Amalthea (diam. 190 km) is at the outer periphery of
the inner Gossamer ring
Thebe (diam. 100 km) is near the outer periphery of
the outer Gossamer ring
 Uranus rings & inner moons

The rings were discovered

during a stellar occultation
in 1977
They are dark and narrow,
situated mostly rather
close together
The outermost rings are
connected with the system
of small, inner satellites
 Uranus rings

The rings are bright in

forward scattering,
and the intermediate
regions also prove not
to be void of material
The outer, bright and
relatively broad ring
is shepherded by
satellites Cordelia and
Ophelia
 Neptunes rings & inner moons
Data mainly from stellar
occultations and
Voyager 2 imaging
Main rings: LeVerrier
and Adams; broader
features in between:
Galle, Arago and Lassell
5 satellites orbit inside
the Adams ring; 3 inside
the LeVerrier ring
 Neptunes ring arcs

Stellar occultation
measurements indicated
asymmetric ring features
Voyager 2 pictures
revealed arcs (clumps of
material) in the Adams
ring: Fraternit, Egalit,
Libert
 The Roche limit

2GM p 4
Repulsive, tidal acceleration: Ft 3
R M p Rp3 p
r 3

GM 3
4 R
Mutual attraction: Fg 2 M
3 2
R
3
1 R 1 3

Ft = Fg 2 p p r
2.5

8 r Rp

p
 Rings and Roche limits

Jupiter: the RL is in the Gossamer region

Saturn: the RL is in the A-B ring region
Uranus: the RL is outside the ring, in the
region of the outer rings
Neptune: the RL is near the Adams ring

Indication: collisional shattering of small, inner

moons and dispersion of material inside the RL
may have caused, and still be causing the rings
 Planetary satellite systems

The terrestrial planets have few satellites,

while the giant planets have a multitude
In some respects the giant planet satellite
systems resemble the Solar System in
miniature, but each system is highly unique
The giant planet satellites may be arranged in
three broad categories corresponding to an
inner, a central and an outer zone with
respect to the planet
 Giant planet satellites
zone Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune
Inner 4 7 13 6
Central 4 14 5 2
Outer 55 35 9 5
total 63 56 27 13

- The inner satellites are always small and have equatorial, circular orbits
(regular orbits)
- The central zone contains all the large, classical satellites, and in the
case of Saturn also some small ones. All except Neptunes have regular
orbits
- All the outer satellites are irregular (high inclinations to the equator) and
small; nearly all are recent discoveries
 Origin of the satellites
The inner, small satellites orbit within or near the
Roche Limit and ring system. They appear to be
eroded remnants of tidal disruption or collisional
fragmentation
The central, regular satellites were formed by
solid accretion in a circumplanetary gas/dust disk
that may have been the result of gas capture
from the solar nebula
The outer, irregular satellites have orbits that are
influenced by the Sun more than by the
equatorial flattening of the planet; they were
captured when the planets were still young
 Collisional captures
Triton
Somewhat smaller than Europa but larger than Pluto
Comparable to other large satellites with respect to distance
from the planet
Orbit is circular but retrograde!

Collisional capture also expelled Nereid into

its highly elliptic orbit, and ejected other
original satellites
Irregular satellites may also be collisionally
captured but their parents were smaller and
may have been fragmented
 Jupiters Galilean satellites

Discovered by Galileo in 1610

Europa is slightly smaller than the Moon; Callisto and
Ganymede are larger than Mercury
Io has a rocky composition; Europa is mostly rocky;
Ganymede and Callisto are 50% rock and 50% ice
Tidal heating effects are important for Io and Europa
 Tidal heating of satellites
The tidal force from the planet
raises bulges on the planet-
facing and planet-opposing sides
of the satellite
The orbits of Io and Europa
around Jupiter are eccentric due
to mutual gravitational forces of
the 4:2:1 resonance Io-Europa-
Ganymede triplet
The orbital eccentricity causes
flexing of the satellite due to (1)
varying distance from Jupiter; (2)
varying angular velocity while the
rotational velocity is constant
 Ios volcanism (1)
Ios tidal heating causes a
constant volcanism

heat flux is 40 times greater than

for Earth
tidal heat is too large to be
removed by conduction or solid-
state convection
melting of the subsurface and
volcanic eruptions
over 200 volcanic calderas,
generally over 20 km in size
volcanic flows hundreds of km long
indicate low viscosity similar to
terrestrial basalt lavas
resurfacing rate estimated to 1-10
cm/year
all geologic features related to
volcanism; no impact craters
 Ios volcanism (2)
Ios surface is dominated by S-bearing species: light SO2 frosts,
elemental S and coloured S compounds
Two classes of volcanic plumes are concentrated in the
equatorial region: Prometheus-type and Pele-type
Pele-type plumes are higher and bigger, short-lived with darker
deposits, higher temperatures
Prometheus-type eruptions are probably driven by vaporization
of SO2 in contact with molten S
Pele-type eruptions may be driven by liquid S heated by molten
silicates at several km depth: phase change to gaseous S drives
the volcano
Some very small hot spots are extremely hot (>1700 K) and
probably correspond to ultramafic, highly fluid magmas
 Europa (1)
Slightly smaller than the Moon,
mostly rocky composition,
tidally heated
H2O crust ~ 100 km thick; the
lower part is certainly liquid
Weak magnetic field, induced
by a conducting liquid (salty
water?) moving in Jupiters
magnetic field
Very bright surface; spectral
features of nearly pure water
ice
Extremely flat, topography <
300 m; few impact craters
indicate young surface (10-100
Myr)
 Europa (2)

Global network of dark ridges,

up to > 1500 km long
Appears to have broken up
the ice into plates ~ 30 km in
size; lateral movements have
occurred
Some evidence of geyser- or
volcanic-like activity along
ridges; active resurfacing?
 Ganymedes tectonic features

Old, cratered icy surface

Regionally extensive, bright and dark areas like on the Moon
But, unlike the Moon, the dark areas are oldest, most heavily cratered
Very complex geology with tectonic features in the younger terrain
Parallel ridges and grooves up to 10 km wide, ~ 100 m high
Ridges are probably tensional grabens
 Titan

Visual appearance from a distance: orange, featureless

Dense atmosphere: ps1.5 bar, N2 and minor CH4
Optically opaque, dense upper layer of photochemical
smog: hydrocarbons, nitriles
Aerosols precipitate out of the gas as 0.2-1 m particles,
accumulate into larger aggregates and fall to the surface
 Titans atmosphere

Surface temperature 90 K; very small greenhouse effect

N2 and CH4 condense into clouds at 20-30 km height;
precipitation may occur
Detached haze layer at 300 km height; main haze is at <
100 km height
 Titans photochemistry
Solar uv and particle radiation dissociate N2
molecules at >1000 km height
N atoms react with methane, producing H
(escaping into space), HCN, hydrocarbons
and C-N compounds
These react further, producing stable species
that sink into lower layers, evetually
precipitating onto the surface
This is a sink of methane (minor atmospheric
constituent), which needs to be resupplied
from the surface of Titan
 Results from Huygens landing on Titan
Geologically young surface
evidence of flow around islands
deposits and rocks of water ice
drainage channels which may have
been created by methane springs
few craters
dark, extensive, possibly flooded
lowlands
Landing occurred in liquid-saturated
mud
A liquid methane-rich hydrocarbon
ocean is not currently extensive at the
surface
Possible cryovolcanism releases
methane into the atmosphere
 Miranda

Very complex despite its small size

some areas very old and heavily cratered
other regions endogenic and crater poor, consisting of white and dark bands and
highly fractured scarps and ridges
models of origin include
tidal heating due to Uranus vicinity
incomplete differentiation and convection patterns
disruption by impact followed by reaccretion
localized late accretion of heavy core material
 Triton

Somewhat smaller than the Moon, extremely cold

Tenuous atmosphere of N2 with trace CH4
Very bright surface made of N2 and CH4 ice with trace NH3
Trailing-leading hemispheric dichotomy
Cryo-volcanoes of liquid N2 in polar regions with constant
insolation carry particles into the atmosphere
 Irregular satellites (1)

Orbits are contained within the Hill radius

Moderate to high eccentricities
Separation into prograde and retrograde classes
Groupings are evident mostly for jovian satellites
 Irregular satellites (2)
Similar colours tend to be
observed for members of the same
dynamical group
This supports an origin by
collisional fragmentation
Collisions are part of some capture
models, where a temporary
capture is made permanent by
dissipative forces:
- Increase of the planetary mass by
accretion
- Gas drag through a planetary envelope
or circumplanetary disk
- Collision or close encounter with
another satellite
- Dynamical friction from a huge number
of small objects orbiting in the vicinity
 Phoebe
The largest irregular satellite
(220 km diameter)
Imaged by the Cassini probe
orbiting Saturn: intensively
cratered
Spectra show abundant water
ice, hydrous minerals, CO2,
organics, nitriles, cyanide
compounds
Composition similar to
comets; density of 1.6 g/cm3
indicates compact object like
Pluto and Charon