Migration of small moons in Saturn's rings
Benjamin C. Bromley (University of Utah), Scott J. Kenyon (SAO)

TL;DR
This paper models the radial migration of small moons in Saturn's rings, predicting their movement rates based on size and explaining the observed distribution and anomalies like Daphnis.
Contribution
It introduces a comprehensive model of moon migration in Saturn's rings, accounting for different size regimes and their effects on moon distribution.
Findings
Moons with Hill radii 2-24 km migrate within 1000 years.
Fast migration may explain the size cutoff of propeller moonlets.
Daphnis' orbit may be stabilized by resonances or recent formation.
Abstract
The motions of small moons through Saturn's rings provide excellent tests of radial migration models. In theory, torque exchange between these moons and ring particles leads to radial drift. We predict that moons with Hill radii r_H ~ 2-24 km should migrate through the A ring in 1000 yr. In this size range, moons orbiting in an empty gap or in a full ring eventually migrate at the same rate. Smaller moons or moonlets -- such as the propellers (e.g., Tiscareno et al. 2006) -- are trapped by diffusion of disk material into corotating orbits, creating inertial drag. Larger moons -- such as Pan or Atlas -- do not migrate because of their own inertia. Fast migration of 2-24 km moons should eliminate intermediate-size bodies from the A ring and may be responsible for the observed large-radius cutoff of r_H ~ 1-2 km in the size distribution of the A ring's propeller moonlets. Although the…
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