An analytic parameterization of self-gravity wakes in Saturn's rings, with application to occultations and propellers

TL;DR

This paper introduces a semi-analytic parameterization method for self-gravity wakes in Saturn's rings, revealing a trimodal optical depth distribution and offering insights into ring structures and propeller brightness.

Contribution

It presents a novel six-parameter model for self-gravity wakes, improving understanding of ring structures and explaining propeller brightness through wake disruption.

Findings

Distribution of local optical depths is trimodal.

Rings with self-gravity wakes are mostly empty space.

Propellers may appear bright due to wake disruption.

Abstract

We have developed a semi-analytic method of parameterizing N-body simulations of self-gravity wakes in Saturn's rings, describing their properties by means of only 6 numbers: 3 optical depths and 3 weighting factors. These numbers are obtained using a density-estimation procedure that finds the frequencies of various values of local density within a simulated ring patch. Application of our parameterization to a suite of N-body simulations implies that the distribution of local optical depths is trimodal, rather than bimodal as previous authors have assumed. Rings dominated by self-gravity wakes appear to be mostly empty space. The implications of this result for the analysis of occultation data are more conceptual than practical. The only adjustment needed is that the model parameter $\tau_{gap}$ should be interpreted as representing the area-weighted average optical depth within the gaps (or inter-wake regions). The most significant consequence of our results applies to the question of why "propeller" structures observed in the mid-A ring are seen as relative-bright features, even though the most prominent features of simulated propellers are regions of relatively low density. We find preliminary quantitative support for the hypothesis that propellers would be bright if they involve a local and temporary disruption of self-gravity wakes, flooding the region with more "photometrically active" material (i.e., material that can contribute to the rings' local optical depth) even though the overall density is lower, and thus raising their apparent brightnesses in agreement with observations. We suggest that this mechanism be tested by future detailed numerical models.