The rings of Saturn are 'ringing' like a bell

[Judi Lynn]

By Nola Taylor Redd 10 hours ago

Gravity waves from inside Saturn are ringing the planet’s rings

Saturn's rings are ringing like a bell, which is making it possible for researchers to explore deep inside the heart of the planet.

Gravitational forces push seismic waves from Saturn's interior into its ring system, where NASA's Cassini mission was able to detect the minute tremors. According to a new study, a large part of the planet's interior is more layered than previously expected.

Planets hide their interior processes behind hard-to-penetrate layers. While rocky bodies like Earth and the moon can have their layers probed through the study of seismic waves created by quakes, gas giants have no solid surface to measure such waves. Instead, researchers have to employ other methods, such as studying a planet's magnetic field.



A dynamical interplay between Saturn's largest moon, Titan, and its rings is captured in this view
from NASA's Cassini spacecraft taken on Sept. 20, 2009 and released Dec. 23, 2013. At every
location within Saturn's rings, particles orbit with a particular period, or rhythm. This image is
focused on two separate and nearby locations in the rings where those rhythms are in synchrony
with different aspects of Titan's 16-day orbit, creating signature effects that point from a distance
back towards Titan. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute )

Not long after NASA's Cassini mission arrived at Saturn in 2004, researchers realized that the planet's rings were oscillating strangely. Instead of single waves, which are predicted by existing theory, the spacecraft revealed clusters of small waves that could be explained by the presence of gravity waves in the deepest part of the planet's interior.

More:
https://www.space.com/saturns-rings-ring-like-bell.html

[FirstLight]

1. thanks for this!

I fell down the fascinating science rabbit hole for a moment and forgot about the police beating people and Covid...