X-Rays from Saturn and its RingsIn January 2004 Saturn was observed by Chandra ACIS-S in two exposures, 00:06 to 11:00 UT on 20 January and 14:32 UT on 26 January to 01:13 UT on 27 January. Each continuous observation lasted for about one full Saturn rotation. These observations detected an X-ray flare from the Saturn's disk and indicate that the entire Saturnian X-ray emission is highly variable -- a factor of $\sim$4 variability in brightness in a week time. The Saturn X-ray flare has a time and magnitude matching feature with the solar X-ray flare, which suggests that the disk X-ray emission of Saturn is governed by processes happening on the Sun. These observations also unambiguously detected X-rays from Saturn's rings. The X-ray emissions from rings are present mainly in the 0.45-0.6 keV band centered on the atomic OK$\alpha$ fluorescence line at 525 eV: indicating the production of X-rays due to oxygen atoms in the water icy rings. The characteristics of X-rays from Saturn's polar region appear to be statistically consistent with those from its disk X-rays, suggesting that X-ray emission from the polar cap region might be an extension of the Saturn disk X-ray emission.
Document ID
20050180632
Acquisition Source
Headquarters
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Bhardwaj, Anil (NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL, United States)
Elsner, Ron F. (NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL, United States)
Waite, J. Hunter (Michigan Univ. Ann Arbor, MI, United States)
Gladstone, G. Randall (Southwest Research Inst. San Antonio, TX, United States)
Cravens, Tom E. (Kansas Univ. Lawrence, KS, United States)
Ford, Peter G. (Massachusetts Inst. of Tech. Cambridge, MA, United States)