A multilayer model for thermal infrared emission of Saturn's rings. III: Thermal inertia inferred from Cassini CIRS

TL;DR

This study derives thermal inertia values for Saturn's main rings using Cassini CIRS data, revealing differences between slow and fast spinning particles and implications for their surface properties.

Contribution

It introduces a model accounting for particle spin states to explain observed thermal emission variations in Saturn's rings.

Findings

Thermal inertia varies between ring regions and particle spin states.

Fast rotators likely have less fluffy regolith layers than slow rotators.

Particles smaller than ~1 cm dominate the ring cross sections.

Abstract

The thermal inertia values of Saturn's main rings (the A, B, and C rings and the Cassini division) are derived by applying our thermal model to azimuthally scanned spectra taken by the Cassini Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS). Model fits show the thermal inertia of ring particles to be 16, 13, 20, and 11 Jm$^{-2}$K$^{-1}$s$^{-1/2}$ for the A, B, and C rings, and the Cassini division, respectively. However, there are systematic deviations between modeled and observed temperatures in Saturn's shadow depending on solar phase angle, and these deviations indicate that the apparent thermal inertia increases with solar phase angle. This dependence is likely to be explained if large slowly spinning particles have lower thermal inertia values than those for small fast spinning particles because the thermal emission of slow rotators is relatively stronger than that of fast rotators at low phase and vise versa. Additional parameter fits, which assume that slow and fast rotators have different thermal inertia values, show the derived thermal inertia values of slow (fast) rotators to be 8 (77), 8 (27), 9 (34), 5 (55) Jm$^{-2}$K$^{-1}$s$^{-1/2}$ for the A, B, and C rings, and the Cassini division, respectively. The values for fast rotators are still much smaller than those for solid ice with no porosity. Thus, fast rotators are likely to have surface regolith layers, but these may not be as fluffy as those for slow rotators, probably because the capability of holding regolith particles is limited for fast rotators due to the strong centrifugal force on surfaces of fast rotators. Other additional parameter fits, in which radii of fast rotators are varied, indicate that particles less than $\sim$ 1 cm should not occupy more than a half of the cross section for the A, B, and C rings.