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Jupiter rocket eyed by space enthusiasts
Saturn and its rings are seen in this undated false color photograph taken by the Cassini spacecraft. This view makes Saturn's rings faintly visible in the lower left, while the false color enhancement brings out additional detail in the planet's clouds that is not visible in the natural color view. (UPI Photo/NASA)
The findings were made by instruments aboard the Cassini spacecraft in a series of experiments exploring the structure of Saturn's rings, and measuring the size and distribution of particles in the rings.
The Cassini spacecraft flew behind the plane of rings A and B, near the outside of Saturn's complex ring structure, and transmitted radio waves through ring particles to Earth.
Scientists from Stanford University in California, Wellesley College in Massachusetts and the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif., analyzed the radio signals to help determine properties of the rings.
The scientists found oscillations in particle densities that affected the radio signals traveling through the planet's rings. The researchers posit the oscillations are caused by gravitational forces and collisions among the ring's fine particles.
The study appears in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.