Rings of Jupiter
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jupiter has a planetary ring system first observed in 1979 by the Voyager 1 spacecraft in an experiment designed to search for faint rings.[1] The ring system is composed of three main components: an inner torus of particles known as the halo, a relatively bright main ring, and an outer "gossamer" ring.[2] The gossamer ring is heterogeneous in structure and contains two distinct rings named for the satellites at which the rings stretch out to: Amalthea and Thebe.[3] Additionally, there is a distant and very faint outer ring circling Jupiter with a rotation retrograde to Jupiter's spin.[2]
| Name | Distance from Jupiter's centre (km)[4] | Width (km) |
| 1979 J1R ('Halo Ring') | 89,400 - 123,000 | 33,600 |
| 1979 J2R ('Main Ring') | 123,000 - 128,940 | 5940 |
| 1979 J3R ('Gossamer Ring') | 128,940 - 280,000 | 151,060 |
[edit] Formation
The rings are composed of small particles ejected from its moons by meteorite impacts. Much of the material is pulled into Jupiter's orbit instead of falling back to the moon because of Jupiter's strong gravitational influence.[5] The resulting material orbits Jupiter in the direction of the moon's orbit and gradually spirals inward toward Jupiter and is lost from the ring.
According to this scenario, the material in each ring comes from its associated satellite. The main ring is probably made of material from the satellites Adrastea and Metis;[6] the moons Thebe and Amalthea probably produce the gossamer ring components of their namesakes.[5] The origin of the outermost ring is uncertain because it is not associated with a known satellite and does not conform to this simple model.[5]
[edit] References
- ^ Showalter, M.A.; N. Heather. Jupiter's Ring system. SETI. Retrieved on December 29, 2006.
- ^ a b Showalter, M.A.; J.A. Burns, J. N. Cuzzi, and J. B. Pollack (1987). "Jupiter's ring system: New results on structure and particle properties". Icarus 69 (3): 458-498. DOI:10.1016/0019-1035(87)90018-2.
- ^ Ockert-Bell, M.E.; J.A. Burns, I.J. Daubar, P.C. Thomas, J. Veverka, M.J.S. Belton, and K.P. Klaasen (1999). "The structure of Jupiter's ring system as revealed by the Galileo Imaging Experiment". Icarus 138 (2): 188-213. DOI:10.1006/icar.1998.6072.
- ^ Murray, C.D.; S.F. Dermott (2000). Solar System Dynamics. Cambridge University Press, 606. DOI:10.2277/0521572959. ISBN 0521575974.
- ^ a b c Burns, J.A.; M. A. Showalter, D.P. Hamilton, P.D. Nicholson, I. de Pater, M. E. Ockert-Bell, and P. C. Thomas (1999). "The formation of Jupiter's faint rings". Science 284 (5417): 1146-1150. DOI:10.1126/science.284.5417.1146.
- ^ (1998) "Tiny moon source of Jupiter's Ring". Science 281 (5385): 1951. DOI:10.1126/science.281.5385.1951b.
[edit] External links
| Rings of Jupiter • Rings of Saturn • Rings of Uranus • Rings of Neptune |
| See also: gas torus • R/2003 U 1 |
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Listed in increasing distance from Jupiter. Italics indicate ungrouped moons.
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| Amalthea group | Metis · Adrastea · Amalthea · Thebe |
| Galilean moons | Io · Europa · Ganymede · Callisto |
| Themisto | |
| Himalia group | Leda · Himalia · Lysithea · Elara · S/2000 J 11 |
| Carpo · S/2003 J 12 | |
| Ananke group | Ananke · Praxidike · Harpalyke · Iocaste · Euanthe · Thyone (core) Euporie · S/2003 J 3 · S/2003 J 18 · Thelxinoe · Helike · Orthosie · S/2003 J 16 · Hermippe · Mneme · S/2003 J 15 (peripheral) |
| Carme group | S/2003 J 17 · S/2003 J 10 · Pasithee · Chaldene · Arche · Isonoe · Erinome · Kale · Aitne · Taygete · S/2003 J 9 · Carme · S/2003 J 5 · S/2003 J 19 · Kalyke · Eukelade · Kallichore |
| Pasiphaë group | Eurydome · S/2003 J 23 · Hegemone · Pasiphaë · Sponde · Cyllene · Megaclite · S/2003 J 4 · Callirrhoe · Sinope · Autonoe · Aoede · Kore |
| S/2003 J 2 | |
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