8- to 13-μm Spectra of Saturn's A and B Rings

✍ Scribed by David K. Lynch; Ann L. Mazuk; Ray W. Russell; John A. Hackwell; Martha S. Hanner

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 2000
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 66 KB
• Volume: 146
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0019-1035
• DOI: 10.1006/icar.2000.6372

✦ Synopsis

Thermal IR spectroscopy of Saturn's A and B rings in the 8to 13-µm range reveals a smooth, Planck-like continuum with no spectral structure that could be attributed to optically thin water ice or silicate dust. The brightness temperatures of the A and B rings obtained by fitting a Planck function to the spectra were 90.3 ± 0.9 and 90.5 ± 0.6 K, respectively, in good agreement with and extending earlier photometric measurements.