Hurst exponent and planetary rings

TL;DR

This paper investigates whether the Hurst exponent is a reliable and consistent measure for analyzing Saturn's rings by comparing optical depth series from Cassini images and Voyager occultation data.

Contribution

It introduces a method to calculate the Hurst exponent from planetary ring data and tests its robustness across different observational datasets.

Findings

Hurst exponent provides consistent values across different observations.

Optical depth series exhibit fractal-like properties.

Method demonstrates potential for analyzing planetary ring structures.

Abstract

We test on Saturn's rings whether the Hurst exponent is a "robust" observable, in the sense that it returns consistent values for different observations of the same object. We calculate the exponent of the series corresponding to the optical depth as a function of the radius, as obtained from the grayscale value of Cassini pictures, as well as from stellar occultation data from Voyager missions.