17.08

The Kinematics and Dynamics of the Huygens Ring from Combined Voyager and Ground-Based Data

J.N. Spitale, C.C. Porco (LPL/University of Arizona)

In recent years, ground-based stellar occultation observations and Voyager stellar and radio science occultation data were combined to refine the Saturn pole position and absolute radius scale (French et al. 1993). The latter is now known to an accuracy of km. These results have paved the way for precise kinematical and dynamical analyses of the non-circular features in the rings of Saturn. For this presentation, we will focus on the system consisting of the outer eccentric B ring edge, the Huygens ring which sits km beyond, and the nearby Mimas 2:1 resonance. In previous preliminary analyses, the Huygens ring was found to exhibit two kinematical components: an m=1 freely precessing component, and an m=2 component which appeared to be forced by both the Mimas resonance and the eccentric B ring edge (Turtle et al. 1991). We have begun a more detailed study of this dynamical system and will present our initial results. truein

French, et al. (1993). Icarus, 103, 163.

Turtle, et al. (1991). B.A.A.S., 23, 1179.