Detection of Centimeter-Sized Meteoroid Impact Events in Saturn's F Ring
Mark R. Showalter
Voyager images reveal that three prominent clumps in Saturn's F
ring were short-lived, appearing rapidly and then spreading and
decaying in brightness over periods of ~2 weeks. These features arise
from hypervelocity impacts by ~10-centimeter meteoroids into F ring
bodies. Future ring observations of these impact events could constrain
the centimeter-sized component of the meteoroid population, which is
otherwise unmeasurable but plays an important role in the evolution of
rings and surfaces in the outer solar system. The F ring's numerous
other clumps are much longer lived and appear to be unrelated to
impacts.
Space, Telecommunications and Radioscience Laboratory, Stanford
University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA. Mailing address: 245-3 NASA
Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035-1000, USA. E-mail:
showalter{at}ringside.arc.nasa.gov
