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Published Online December 16, 2004
Science DOI: 10.1126/science.1105606

Reports

Submitted on September 23, 2004
Accepted on December 2, 2004

Ultraviolet Imaging Spectroscopy Shows an Active Saturnian System

Larry W. Esposito 1*, Joshua E. Colwell 1, Kristopher Larsen 1, William E. McClintock 1, A. Ian F. Stewart 1, Janet Tew Hallett 2, Donald E. Shemansky 2, Joseph M. Ajello 3, Candice J. Hansen 3, Amanda R. Hendrix 3, Robert A. West 3, H. Uwe Keller 4, Axel Korth 4, Wayne R. Pryor 5, Ralf Reulke 6, Yuk L. Yung 7

1 University of Colorado, Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, 234 Innovation Drive, Boulder, CO 80303-7814, USA.
2 University of Southern California, 854 West 36th Place, Los Angeles, CA 90089-1191, USA.
3 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109-8099, USA.
4 Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung, Max-Planck-Strasse 2, D-37191 Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany.
5 Central Arizona College, 8470 N. Overfield Road, Coolidge, AZ 85228-9778, USA.
6 Stuttgart University, Institute for Photogrammetry, Geschwister-Scholl-Strasse 24-D, 70174 Stuttgart, Germany.
7 California Institute of Technology, Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, 1200 East California Boulevard, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Larry W. Esposito , E-mail: larry.esposito{at}lasp.colorado.edu

Neutral oxygen in the saturnian system shows variability, and the total number of oxygen atoms peaks at 4 x 1034. Saturn's aurora brightens in response to solar wind forcing, and the auroral spectrum resembles Jupiter's. Phoebe's surface shows variable water ice content, and the data indicate it originated in the outer solar system. Saturn's rings also show variable water abundance, with the purest ice in the outermost A ring. This radial variation is consistent with initially pure water ice bombarded by meteors, but smaller radial structures may indicate collisional transport and recent renewal events in the last 107 to 108 years.


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