Abstract
One major puzzle from the ground-based and Voyager observations of the saturnian system concerns the presence of the E ring and its possible relationship to the icy satellite, Enceladus1–3. Several issues concerning the surface property and interior condition of Enceladus remain unresolved if it is the main supplier of the E-ring particulate matter. Here we explore the intriguing alternative that the mass supply and orbital configuration of the E ring may be derived from a mass and momentum coupling between the A ring and the tenuous E ring a process of plasmatization and recondensation of the A-ring icy material. In the same way, the C ring could be replenished by the B ring. In this new view, plasma transport has a very important role in the dynamical evolution of the saturnian ring system.
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Ip, WH. Plasmatization and recondensation of the saturnian rings. Nature 320, 143–145 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1038/320143a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/320143a0
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