Abstract
Interparticle collisions, radiation drag and differential precession all tend to disrupt the rings of Uranus. The first two effects lead to radial spreading which would disrupt a free ring in ≲108 yr. We propose that the rings are confined in radius by gravitational torques from a series of small satellites that orbit within the ring system. Differential precession tends to destroy the apse alignment of the elliptical ε ring. We suggest that apse alignment is maintained by the self-gravity of the ring. The resulting mass of the ε ring is ∼5 ×1018 g. Its radial confinement requires (for example) a pair of satellites of mass ∼1019 g, in circular orbits roughly 500 km away on either side of the ring.
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Goldreich, P., Tremaine, S. Towards a theory for the uranian rings. Nature 277, 97–99 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1038/277097a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/277097a0
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