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Theodor Kostiuk (NASA/GSFC), C. M. Lisse, T. A. Livengood (UMD/GSFC), H. U. Kaufl (ESO)
Images of Saturn and its rings were obtained in November 1996 at the European Southern Observatory using the Thermal Infrared MultiMode Instrument (TIMMI) on the 3.6 meter Telescope. Photometric images were made through filters from 7.7~\mum to 13~\mum with the TIMMI 64\times 64 Ga:Si array at an image scale of 0.5~arcsec/pixel. Preliminary analysis of the photometry indicates a peak in the emitted radiance of the rings near 12~\mum. A significant difference in the radiance from the East and West ansae was observed, with a maximum ratio W/E of ~2 near 11.3~\mum. Possible explanations for the difference will be discussed, including thermal heating and cooling, ring geometry, and ring particle properties and composition.