Search This Blog

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Gas Giant Planetery Rings Discussed at SETI


Saturn's rings are one of the most spectacular objects in the solar system. Analysis of their origin, evolution, and eventual demise can provide insight into the formation of our solar system as well as planetary formation processes in general.

This talk by Rob French, Research Assistant at the SETI Institute, provides a brief overview of the ring systems of the giant planets, the basic principles of photometry, and how we have applied photometry to Saturn's F ring. The F ring shows a dramatic change in brightness from the Voyager era to the Cassini era. Scientists attribute this change to perturbations by the nearby moon Prometheus.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...