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Images of Neptune's ring arcs obtained by a ground-based telescope

Nature volume 400, pages 731–733 (1999)Cite this article

Abstract

Neptune has a collection of incomplete narrow rings, known as ring arcs, which should in isolation be destroyed by differential motion in a matter of months. Yet since first discovered1 by stellar occultations in 1984, they appear to have persisted2,3,4,5,6, perhaps through a gravitational resonance effect involving the satellite Galatea6,7,8. Here we report ground-based observations of the ring arcs, obtained using an adaptive optics system. Our data, and those obtained using the Hubble Space Telescope (reported in a companion paper9), indicate that the ring arcs are near, but not within the resonance with Galatea, in contrast to what is predicted by some models.

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Figure 1: Images showing Neptune's ring arcs.
Figure 2: Analysis of the ring arcs.

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Acknowledgements

The work of E.P. at DESPA is supported by the G. Colombo research fellowship of the European Space Agency. Adaptive optics observations of Neptune at the University of Hawaii were supported by NASA.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Observatoire de Paris, Institut Universitaire de France, DESPA, Paris, 6, 92195, Meudon Cédex, France

    B. Sicardy & E. Perozzi

  2. Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii, 2680 Woodlawn Drive, Honolulu, 96822, Hawaii, USA

    F. Roddier, C. Roddier, J. E. Graves, O. Guyon & M. J. Northcott

  3. Telespazio, Via Tiburtina 965, 00156, Roma, Italy

    E. Perozzi

  4. Ecole Normale Supérieure, 45 rue d'Ulm, Paris, Cédex 05, 75230, France

    O. Guyon

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  1. B. Sicardy
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  2. F. Roddier
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  3. C. Roddier
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  4. E. Perozzi
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  5. J. E. Graves
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  6. O. Guyon
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  7. M. J. Northcott
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Correspondence to B. Sicardy.

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Sicardy, B., Roddier, F., Roddier, C. et al. Images of Neptune's ring arcs obtained by a ground-based telescope. Nature 400, 731–733 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/23410

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