The rings of Saturn have puzzled astronomers ever since they were discovered by Galileo in 1610, during the first telescopic observations of the night sky. The puzzles have only increased since Voyagers 1 and 2 imaged the ring system extensively in 1980 and 1981. In addition to the images, several Voyager instruments observed occultations of the ring system with radial resolution as fine as 100 meters. The rings have been given letter names in the order of their discovery. The main rings are, working outward from the planet, known as C, B, and A. The Cassini Division is the largest gap in the rings and separates Rings B and A. In addition a number of fainter rings have been discovered more recently. The D Ring is exceedingly faint and closest to the planet. The F Ring is a narrow feature just outside the A Ring. Beyond that are two far fainter rings named G and E. The particles in Saturn's rings are composed primarily of water ice and range from microns to meters in size. The rings show a tremendous amount of structure on all scales; some of this structure is related to gravitational perturbations by Saturn's many moons, but much of it remains unexplained.

Index

• Animations
• Images
• References
• Related Web Sites

More Links to Rings Node Facilities...

• Tables of ring and satellite information
• Saturn ephemeris tools
• Cassini data and information
• Search for Voyager images
• Search for Voyager images with advanced geometry constraints
• Learn more about the Voyager images
• Find the Voyager ring occultation data
• Find Earth-based ring occultation data
• Find data from the Saturn Ring Plane Crossings of 1995
• Search for Hubble images

Animations

• The Voyager 2 flyby of Saturn (Quicktime format, 822 Kbytes)

  This animation illustrates the geometry of Voyager 2's passage through the Saturn system. This was a NASA full motion video clip, converted to QuickTime format.

• A "spoke" movie (Quicktime format, 1.02 Mbytes)

  A sequence of Voyager images was used to generate this movie showing the motion of the mysterious "spokes" in Saturn's B Ring.

• A stellar occulation by Saturn's rings (Quicktime format, 1.02 Mbytes)

  The Voyager 2 photopolarimeter (PPS) and ultraviolet spectrometer (UVS) instruments observed the occultation of the star delta Sco by Saturn's rings. These experiments resolved the rings down to a scale of 100 meters. This animation shows the viewing geometry during the experiment.

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• Highlights from the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 cameras.
• Pseudo-images from the Voyager 2 Photopolarimeter (PPS) occultation experiment.
• Saturn images from Earth-based observatories including the Hubble Space Telescope.
• Press Releases from the Cassini Mission to Saturn .
• Artwork and diagrams of Saturn and its rings.

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References

• Encounter overview: Voyager 1 and Voyager 2.
• Imaging (ISS) team report: Voyager 1 and Voyager 2.
• Photopolarimeter (PPS) team report: Voyager 2.
• Infrared Interferometer (IRIS) team report: Voyager 1 and Voyager 2.
• Radio Science (RSS) team report: Voyager 1.
• Ultraviolet Spectrometer (UVS) team report: Voyager 1 and Voyager 2.
• Magnetic Fields (MAG) team report: Voyager 2.
• Planetary Radio Astronomy (PRA) team report: Voyager 2.
• Plasma Wave (PWS) team report: Voyager 2.

For further reading, consult the following:

• Cuzzi, J. N., J. J. Lissauer, L. W. Esposito, J. B. Holberg, E. A. Marouf, G. L. Tyler, and A. Bouschot 1984. Saturn's rings: Properties and processes. In Planetary Rings, (R. Greenberg and A. Brahic, Eds.), University of Arizona Press, Tucson, pp. 73-199.
• Esposito, L. W., J. N. Cuzzi, J. B. Holberg, E. A. Marouf, G. L. Tyler, and C. C. Porco 1984. Saturn's rings: Structure, dynamics, and Particle properties. In Saturn, (T. Gehrels and M. S. Matthews, Eds.), University of Arizona Press, Tucson, pp. 463-545.
• Nicholson, P. D., M. R. Showalter, L. Dones, R. G. French, S. M. Larson, J. J. Lissauer, C. A. McGhee, P. Seitzer, B. Sicardy, and G. E. Danielson 1996. Observations of Saturn's ring-plane crossings in August and November 1995. Science 272, 509-515.
• Bosh, A. S., and A. S. Rivkin 1996. Observations of Saturn's inner satellites during the May 1995 ring-plane crossing. Science 272, 518-521.

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• Nineplanets, by Bill Arnett.
• JPL's Saturn Ring Plane Crossing page.
• The National Air and Space Museum Saturn page.
• NASA's Regional Planetary Image Facilities.
• NASA Spacelink.
• Welcome to the Planets, by the PDS Central Node.
• Saturn images and a Fact Sheet at the National Space Science Data Center.
• Views of the Solar System - Saturn at the Los Alamos National Laboratory.
• The Cassini Project home page.

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