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News and Views
Nature 440, 614-615 (30 March 2006) | doi:10.1038/440614a; Published online 29 March 2006
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Postdoctoral Associate in Enzyme Biochemistry
- Cornell University
- Ithaca, NY
Endowed Professorship
- Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis
- St. Louis, MO 63110 United States
Planetary science: Saturn's bared mini-moons
Frank Spahn1 & Jürgen Schmidt1
Abstract
Propeller-shaped structures seem to reveal the presence of moonlets, about 100 metres in diameter, embedded in Saturn's rings. This discovery adds to our picture of how the rings formed and are evolving.
The question of where Saturn's magnificent system of rings came from has intrigued planetary scientists for centuries. A currently favoured thesis is that the flat disk of the main rings, which girdle the planet's equator, originated in the dispersion of material from the disruption of an icy satellite following the impact of a comet or asteroid1, 2.
- Frank Spahn and Jürgen Schmidt are in the Arbeitsgruppe Nichtlineare Dynamik, Universität Potsdam, Postfach 601553, 14469 Potsdam, Germany.
Email: frank@agnld.uni-potsdam.de
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