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Title:
The Equatorial Ridges of Pan and Atlas: Terminal Accretionary Ornaments?
Authors:
Charnoz, Sébastien; Brahic, André; Thomas, Peter C.; Porco, Carolyn C.
Affiliation:
AA(Laboratoire AIM, Commissariat à l’Énergie Atomique (CEA)/Université Paris 7/CNRS, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, France.), AB(Laboratoire AIM, Commissariat à l’Énergie Atomique (CEA)/Université Paris 7/CNRS, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, France.), AC(Center for Radiophysics and Space Research, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.), AD(Cassini Imaging Central Laboratory for Operations, Space Science Institute, Boulder, CO 80301, USA.)
Publication:
Science, Volume 318, Issue 5856, pp. 1622- (2007).
Publication Date:
12/2007
Category:
Planetary Science
Origin:
SCIENCE
DOI:
10.1126/science.1148631
Bibliographic Code:
2007Sci...318.1622C

Abstract

In the outer regions of Saturn’s main rings, strong tidal forces balance gravitational accretion processes. Thus, unusual phenomena may be expected there. The Cassini spacecraft has recently revealed the strange “flying saucer” shape of two small satellites, Pan and Atlas, located in this region, showing prominent equatorial ridges. The accretion of ring particles onto the equatorial surfaces of already-formed bodies embedded in the rings may explain the formation of the ridges. This ridge formation process is in good agreement with detailed Cassini images showing differences between rough polar and smooth equatorial terrains. We propose that Pan and Atlas ridges are kilometers-thick “ring-particle piles” formed after the satellites themselves and after the flattening of the rings but before the complete depletion of ring material from their surroundings.
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