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The Structure of the Uranian Rings and the Search for Rings Around NeptuneThe nine narrow rings of Uranus, presently the only confirmed features of this system, have been observed with the diffraction-limited resolution (3.5 km) of ground-based occultations since their discovery in 1977. These data have been used to establish an orbit model, from which the five Keplerian orbit parameters for each ring, the pole of the mean ring plane, and the gravitational harmonic coefficients J sub 2 and J sub 4 have been determined. The rings are typically a few kilometers wide with eccentricities of about 0.001 and inclinations of a few hundredths of a degree, although a few have no measurable eccentricity or inclination. Interesting Voyager investigations would include probing the structure of the rings at higher spatial resolution, searching for new rings in the system (including inter-ring material), locating the postulated shepherd satellites, and searching for satellites inside the orbit of Miranda that might have dynamical influence on the rings. The high precision (approx 2 km) of the ring orbits might prove useful for spacecraft navigation. For Neptune, occultation searches have revealed no rings to a limit of a few hundreths optical depth, within a few hundred kilometers from the top of the planet's atmosphere (for equatorial rings).
Document ID
19850003646
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Elliot, J. L.
(Massachusetts Inst. of Tech. Cambridge, MA, United States)
Date Acquired
August 12, 2013
Publication Date
October 1, 1984
Publication Information
Publication: JPL Uranus and Neptune
Subject Category
Lunar And Planetary Exploration
Accession Number
85N11954
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.
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