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Spiral Waves in Saturn's A-Ring Target Name:   Saturn Spacecraft:   Voyager 2 Produced by:   Calvin J. Hamilton Copyright:  © 2002 Calvin J. Hamilton Date Taken:   26 August 1981 Date Released:  25 May 2002 (Publisher Permission Request) Related Documents Saturn's Magnificent Rings Saturn Download Options Name Type Width x Height Size aring2.jpg JPEG 544 x 600 27K aring2.tif TIFF 544 x 600 93K Many of Saturn's ring structures appear to be the results of resonance with outer satellites. One prominent structure within the A-Ring is a 5:3 resonance with Saturn's moon Mimas. At this resonance, ring materials circle Saturn 5 times while Mimas orbits 3 times. This Voyager 2, close encounter image of Saturn's A-Ring, shows two wave patterns formed from the Mimas resonance perturbations. On the left is an outward propagating spiral density wave formed by particles that are bunched together in a spiral pattern. On the right is an inward propagating spiral bending wave that is made up of vertical oscillations of the ring material. The distance between these two waves is about 400 kilometers. Another image of these spiral waves can be found at aring3.htm.

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