arXivDaily arXiv每日学术速递 周一至周五更新
arXiv 0912.3017astro-ph.EP
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土星环系统的起源与演化

Origin and Evolution of Saturn's Ring System

Sebastien Charnoz, Luke Dones, Larry W. Esposito, Paul R. Estrada, Matthew M. Hedman

摘要:

土星环的起源和长期演化仍然是现代行星科学中未解决的问题。在这一章中,我们回顾了我们对这个长期存在的问题的认识的现状,主要是关于主环(A,卡西尼分区,B,C),F环和扩散环(E和G)。在旅行者时代,影响环长时间尺度的演化过程模型(侵蚀,粘性扩散,吸积,弹道输运等)。曾提出土星环的年龄不超过100 My。此外,土星的大型弥散环系统被认为是土星一颗或多颗卫星物质损失的结果。在卡西尼号时代,高空间和光谱分辨率的数据使其中一些问题取得了进展。诸如A环中的“螺旋桨”,环嵌入小卫星的形状,F环中的团块和土卫二的羽流等发现为土星环的进化过程提供了新的限制。与此同时,在过去20年中,数值模拟的进步为环的精细尺度结构的现实模型开辟了道路,我们对太阳系形成的理解的进展为理解环的形成提供了更好的历史背景。所有这些元素对土星环的起源和长期演化都有重要意义。他们加强了土星环非常动态和快速演变的想法,而新的论点表明,如果它们定期更新,环可能比以前认为的要古老。根据这些理论,我们对环的主要演化过程、时间尺度和可能的起源方案进行了评述。

英文摘要:

The origin and long-term evolution of Saturn's rings is still an unsolved problem in modern planetary science. In this chapter we review the current state of our knowledge on this long-standing question for the main rings (A, Cassini Division, B, C), the F Ring, and the diffuse rings (E and G). During the Voyager era, models of evolutionary processes affecting the rings on long time scales (erosion, viscous spreading, accretion, ballistic transport, etc.) had suggested that Saturn's rings are not older than 100 My. In addition, Saturn's large system of diffuse rings has been thought to be the result of material loss from one or more of Saturn's satellites. In the Cassini era, high spatial and spectral resolution data have allowed progress to be made on some of these questions. Discoveries such as the ''propellers'' in the A ring, the shape of ring-embedded moonlets, the clumps in the F Ring, and Enceladus' plume provide new constraints on evolutionary processes in Saturn's rings. At the same time, advances in numerical simulations over the last 20 years have opened the way to realistic models of the rings's fine scale structure, and progress in our understanding of the formation of the Solar System provides a better-defined historical context in which to understand ring formation. All these elements have important implications for the origin and long-term evolution of Saturn's rings. They strengthen the idea that Saturn's rings are very dynamical and rapidly evolving, while new arguments suggest that the rings could be older than previously believed, provided that they are regularly renewed. Key evolutionary processes, timescales and possible scenarios for the rings's origin are reviewed in the light of t

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