Brian Albin
Seeker
Reged: 08/22/06
Posts: 531
Loc: Western Oregon
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I see they do not show up in Hubble pictures or in Cassinni pictures, so they apparrently are not actual structure; and yet they are visible in Earthbound telescopes. So what are they?
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Jeffrey C.
super member
Reged: 11/12/05
Posts: 115
Loc: Belgium
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Cassini did see spokes in Saturn rings. So they are real.
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Jeffrey
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Ralf Vandebergh
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 08/25/06
Posts: 1161
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Hi Brian,
It is assumed that the spokes are connected to electromagnetic interactions.But it's real mechanism isn't really understood yet.They seem to rotate almost synchronously with the magnetosphere of Saturn.
Cassini photographed finally the ring spokes on Sept. 5, 2005,(first sinds Voyager in the 1980's and later also by the earlier Hubble-sessions) through normal filters and its wide-angle camera from a distance of about 318,000 kilometers from Saturn.But you're right,the Hubble did not capture them always,but there exist Hubble images with spokes on it.
Ralf
Edited by Ralf Vandebergh (03/24/07 08:01 AM)
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jupiterzkool
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 05/08/06
Posts: 1597
Loc: Pasadena, CA
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One of the latest theories is that they are connected to lightening activities in the troposphere of Saturn. You can read the abstract at:
http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/2006/2006GL028146.shtml
-Scott
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Scott G. Edgington, Planetary Scientist
Cassini-Huygens: Mission to Saturn & Titan
Yes, Asia, John Wetton Fan
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Brian Albin
Seeker
Reged: 08/22/06
Posts: 531
Loc: Western Oregon
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Thank you all for setting me straight. Not seeing the spokes in the Hubble & Cassini pictures I have seen thus far, and some of them very high resolution, I thought they must not be in any of the pictures. I had not thought of the spokes being intermittant.
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- Brian
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Brian Albin
Seeker
Reged: 08/22/06
Posts: 531
Loc: Western Oregon
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Okay, I have just finished viewing all the Saturns in the Hubble online gallery - the search returned 47 results; and did not find a picture with spokes. Where are the rest of you finding these other other Hubble pictures?
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Ralf Vandebergh
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 08/25/06
Posts: 1161
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Hi Brian,
See this:
http://216.239.59.104/search?q=cache:ocBhLiiJlp4J:www.cosis.net/abstracts/COSPAR04
Ralf
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Ralf Vandebergh
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 08/25/06
Posts: 1161
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Thanks Scott,for the link!
Best wishes,
Ralf
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Brian Albin
Seeker
Reged: 08/22/06
Posts: 531
Loc: Western Oregon
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I saw on NASA TV recently, a statement that the spokes of Saturn's ring are clouds of dust suspended over the ring by a mechanism unknown at the time the television presentation was made. This seems to have been shortly after Voyager visited Saturn, around 1981. Ralf's COSPAR link agrees with the dust theory of what the spokes are.
Has a determination of the levitating mechanism been made in the years since that television show was made?
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- Brian
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Eddgie
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 02/01/06
Posts: 2365
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This theory is old but at one time was considered a viable theory.. The theory was that there were many small "Shephard Satallites" that not only caused the various tiny ring divisions, but could also propagate density waves through the rings causing ripples.
Like I say, old theory going back to the time that the spokes were first discovered and perhaps discounted since then.
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Celestron C14, CGE (Big Al)
Astro-Physics 6" f/8 (Buffy)
Televue 101 (No name, but I call it my Widescreen HD Space TV)
The night sky is my mistress. She seduces me away from all other lovers.
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