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Encyclopedia of Planetary Science pp 719–723Cite as

Saturn: Ring system

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Part of the Encyclopedia of Earth Science book series (EESS)

Saturn's rings, while no longer unique, remain by far the most massive and diverse ring system known (Plates 26, Plates 27). Alexander (1962) discusses early studies. Pollack (1975) reviews modern work on the rings prior to the Voyager flybys. Cuzzi et al. (1984) and Esposito et al. (1984) provide comprehensive overviews of the Voyager results; Nicholson and Dones (1991) and Esposito (1993) treat more recent developments. Marouf, Tyler and Rosen (1986) discuss the many types of structure revealed by the Voyager radio occultation experiment. Showalter, Cuzzi and Larson (1991), Showalter and Cuzzi (1993), and Showalter et al. (1992) respectively investigate the tenuous outer E and G rings and the clumpy F ring. Goldreich and Tremaine (1982) and Araki (1991a) discuss the dynamics of planetary rings. Burns, Showalter and Morfill (1984) treat the dynamics of dusty rings.

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The structure of Saturn's rings is summarized in Table S2. The rings fall into two main categories, depending...

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  • Imaging science; Jupiter: ring system; Neptune: ring system; Planetary ring; Radio science; Shepherd satellite; Uranus: ring system; Voyager missions

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  1. Luke Dones
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Dones, L. (1997). Saturn: Ring system . In: Encyclopedia of Planetary Science. Encyclopedia of Earth Science. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-4520-4_356

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-4520-4_356

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

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