The giant 'sponge' around Saturn

According to many recent analysis of space probe Cassini, one of the perimeters around Saturn is ' suffering ' from the materials emitted from the geysers of the icy Enceladus artificial satellite.

'Saturn's A ring and Enceladus satellite are up to 100,000 km apart, but there is a strong physical link between them,' said William Farrell of NASA's Goddard Space Flight center. Before there were probes like Cassini, it was thought that these were separate and distinct entities. But the observations of the new probe prove that Enceladus actually completely lost part of his mass to the outer edge of ring A. The above information is mentioned in Farrell's Geophysical Research Letters on January 23.

This is a phenomenon that surprised the most recent scientists involved in the ice circuits of Enceladus. Previously, geysers had also appeared on the E ring, but Saturn's magnetic field was confirmed to be ' overloaded ' by materials emitted by the Encaladus, which exist in the form of plasma (gas cloud contains charged particles). Scientists have confirmed that plasma materials will create a torus-shaped cloud around the Star, which is then absorbed by the A ring, forming a giant ' sponge ' around the rim A.

Pulled out from inside Enceladus, gas molecules are ionized by sunlight and by colliding with other particles. These molecules become more flexible in Saturn's strong magnetic field so they are pulled back around Saturn despite the magnetic field acting, matter currents always end their trip at the A. rim. they are retained and become part of the rim. ' As soon as they meet A ring, they will get stuck there, ' Farrell said.

This illustrates how the regulating belts are emitted by Saturn by 'attracting high and low energy molecules ', Farrell commented. In contrast to Jupiter, the planet does not have enough dense rings to attract high-energy molecules so that Jupiter's radiation is very intense and can become the 2nd Sun of the Sun. system.

Enceladus and the rings of Saturn