Saturn's Mysterious Rings

Saturn's Mysterious Rings

An international team of researchers has created a mathematical model that is trying to solve the riddles of Saturn's rings. The rings represent dust and ice rotating on the equatorial plane of the planet. They were first noticed by Galileo Galilei in 1610.

Then the scientist decided that they are part of Saturn. A more detailed study of these formations became possible only in the 20th century during the period of space exploration. However, many secrets remain unanswered.

Most of the solar planets for millions of years retain their integrity and remain virtually unchanged. But the rings of Saturn demonstrate a lack of stability. This is especially noticeable for the F-ring (one of the most external). Moreover, these changes occur in days, and sometimes within a few hours. For example, the spacecraft recorded clots of matter, which suddenly disappeared.

While there is no accurate data that causes this instability. But there is an assumption that the aggregation of particles (fusion) and fragmentation (disintegration) play a significant role. In planetary rings, these processes occur on a large scale, for which a balance is needed. Researchers from Russia, Britain and the United States have teamed up to sort out this issue. They used a mathematical model that was previously used to study the more stable elements of Saturn.

Using the model, scientists have demonstrated the possibility of continuous periodic oscillatory modes of fusion and decay inside rings. That is, they managed to find a mechanism capable of causing the formation of clots in the F-ring. Their results do not violate the law of conservation of mass (mass cannot appear or be destroyed in chemical reactions).

They spent 3 years on research, because most of the time was spent on checking dubious moments. It was also possible to determine that periodic modes lead to a stable limit cycle. New results may shed light on the phenomenon of periodic clusters in the F-ring and attract the interest of mathematicians in the development of analytical evidence.

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