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Cassini Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer Observations of Iapetus: Detection of CO₂

Sotin, C.; Brown, R. H.; Baines, K. H. +26 more

The Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) instrument aboard the Cassini spacecraft obtained its first spectral map of the satellite Iapetus in which new absorption bands are seen in the spectra of both the low-albedo hemisphere and the H₂O ice-rich hemisphere. Carbon dioxide is identified in the low-albedo material, probably a…

Atmospheres and Plasma Interactions at Saturn's Largest Inner Icy Satellites

Saur, Joachim; Strobel, Darrell F.

We explore the possible existence of atmospheres on Saturn's icy satellites, Mimas, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, and Rhea. Only the most massive satellite, Rhea, has the potential to hold a thin oxygen atmosphere/exosphere. The masses of the other satellites are too small to retain gravitationally atmospheres in the presence of large thermal escape r…

The Discovery of Oxygen Kα X-Ray Emission from the Rings of Saturn

Bhardwaj, Anil; Gladstone, G. Randall; Cravens, Thomas E. +3 more

Using the Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer (ACIS), the Chandra X-Ray Observatory observed the Saturnian system for one rotation of the planet (~37 ks) on 2004 January 20 and again on January 26-27. In this Letter we report the detection of X-ray emission from the rings of Saturn. The X-ray spectrum from the rings is dominated by emission in a nar…

Rotation Rates of Particles in Saturn's Rings

Ohtsuki, Keiji

Rotational states of particles in Saturn's rings are not directly observable but have been inferred from spacecraft and ground-based observations of their thermal emission. A temperature contrast between night- and daysides of particles in Saturn's C ring during crossing of the planetary shadow has been detected and interpreted as indicating the p…