Publication Date:
2019-07-12
Description:
The January 24, 1986 radio occultation of Voyager 2 by the Uranian rings yielded fine-resolution, 50- and 200-m optical depth profiles at a 3.6 cm wavelength for the nine pre-Voyager rings; these are found to be opaque, reaching optical depths as great as 6-8 in rings gamma and epsilon, which are the only two rings possessing extremely sharp inner and outer edges. Rings 6, 5, 4, and delta share a morphology characterized by a sharp outer-edge transition and a quasi-exponential inner edge one. In ring eta, this behavior is reversed, and ring beta exhibits both diffuse edges and the smallest of the observed opacities.
Keywords:
LUNAR AND PLANETARY EXPLORATION
Type:
Icarus (ISSN 0019-1035); 78; 131-168
Format:
text
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