[Previous] | [Session 62] | [Next]

[62.04] Size of Particles and Clumps in Saturnian Rings Inferred from Cassini UVIS Occultations

M. Sremcevic, L. W. Esposito, J. E. Colwell (LASP/University of Colorado), Cassini UVIS Team

The multiple Cassini UVIS stellar occultations reveal the Saturnian rings with an unprecedented resolution. Here we present a new formalism for the explanation of the statistical properties of the occultation data. The excess variance of the occultation data is given by the autocorrelation function of the rings transparency. The autocorrelation function is, in turn, determined by the size distribution of the ring particles and possible clumps or clusters of particles. The statistical analysis of the excess noise of the UVIS occultation data provides the radial profile of the mean autocorrelation length across the rings, which is interpreted either as the size of the largest particles or the size of particle clumps.

The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: Miodrag.Sremcevic@lasp.colorado.edu

[Previous] | [Session 62] | [Next]

Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 37 #3
© 2004. The American Astronomical Soceity.