by Anthony Barreiro » Mon Jul 22, 2013 8:33 pm
neufer wrote:jjb54 wrote:I've tried to do some "Google Search" for the total distance in Miles/KM from the edge of the inner-inner point of the first ring - to the outer - outer point of the last ring. I get all sorts of miles/km and funny thing the range is very VAST from XXX,XXX miles/km to XX,XXX miles/km to anything in between.
Has NASA or any institute actually done an actual measurement?
I'm doing some 'basic astronomy class' (fun) for kids and a couple of kids have asked me that question.
Is there a solid answer to this question or is it a 'guesstament'?
Thanks ....
.
[img3="
Saturn eclipsed the Sun from the vantage of the Cassini spacecraft on 15 September 2006 (brightness is exaggerated). The "pale blue dot" at the 10 o'clock position, outside the main rings and just inside the G Ring, is Earth."]
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... erated.jpg[/img3]
There is NO
solid answer to your question.
From the inner-inner point of the D Ring
to the F Ring is 73,280 km.
But there are rings out to 13,000,000 km and beyond.
Code: Select all
Major subdivisions of the rings
Name Distance from Saturn (from center, in km)
-------------------------------------------------
D Ring 66,900 – 74,510
C Ring 74,658 – 92,000
B Ring 92,000 – 117,580
A Ring 122,170 – 136,775
F Ring 140,180
Janus Ring 149,000 – 154,000
G Ring 166,000 – 175,000
Methone Ring Arc 194,230
Anthe Ring Arc 197,665
Pallene Ring 211,000 – 213,500
E Ring 180,000 – 480,000
Phoebe Ring ~4,000,000 – >13,000,000
Under normal circumstances the A and B rings, and the Cassini division between them, are all you will see through a modest telescope, although you might be able to detect the C ring because Saturn's surface looks somewhat darkened through the C ring -- indeed the C ring is sometimes mistaken as the shadow of the rings on Saturn's cloud tops. If you and your students are looking at Saturn through a telescope, you could tell them that Saturn's diameter is about 120,000 km across the equator (about 109,000 km across the poles), and ask them to visually estimate the width of the visible rings.
[quote="neufer"][quote="jjb54"]I've tried to do some "Google Search" for the total distance in Miles/KM from the edge of the inner-inner point of the first ring - to the outer - outer point of the last ring. I get all sorts of miles/km and funny thing the range is very VAST from XXX,XXX miles/km to XX,XXX miles/km to anything in between.
Has NASA or any institute actually done an actual measurement?
I'm doing some 'basic astronomy class' (fun) for kids and a couple of kids have asked me that question.
Is there a solid answer to this question or is it a 'guesstament'?
Thanks ....[/quote]
[float=right].
[img3="[b][color=#0000FF]Saturn eclipsed the Sun from the vantage of the Cassini spacecraft on 15 September 2006 (brightness is exaggerated). The "pale blue dot" at the 10 o'clock position, outside the main rings and just inside the G Ring, is Earth.[/color][/b]"]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/96/Saturn_eclipse_exaggerated.jpg/800px-Saturn_eclipse_exaggerated.jpg[/img3][/float]There is NO [b][u]solid[/u][/b] answer to your question.
From the inner-inner point of the D Ring
to the F Ring is 73,280 km.
But there are rings out to 13,000,000 km and beyond.
[code]Major subdivisions of the rings
Name Distance from Saturn (from center, in km)
-------------------------------------------------
D Ring 66,900 – 74,510
C Ring 74,658 – 92,000
B Ring 92,000 – 117,580
A Ring 122,170 – 136,775
F Ring 140,180
Janus Ring 149,000 – 154,000
G Ring 166,000 – 175,000
Methone Ring Arc 194,230
Anthe Ring Arc 197,665
Pallene Ring 211,000 – 213,500
E Ring 180,000 – 480,000
Phoebe Ring ~4,000,000 – >13,000,000[/code][/quote]
Under normal circumstances the A and B rings, and the Cassini division between them, are all you will see through a modest telescope, although you might be able to detect the C ring because Saturn's surface looks somewhat darkened through the C ring -- indeed the C ring is sometimes mistaken as the shadow of the rings on Saturn's cloud tops. If you and your students are looking at Saturn through a telescope, you could tell them that Saturn's diameter is about 120,000 km across the equator (about 109,000 km across the poles), and ask them to visually estimate the width of the visible rings.