A review of radar observations of Saturn’s rings
Saturn’s rings are the most distant radar-detected planetary entity, and the only radar-detected ring system. Neither distinction is likely to be reinquished during this century.Ten years have passed since the initial detection of radar echoes from Saturn’s rings (Goldstein and Morris, 1973) shattered prevailing notions that typical ring particles were 0.1 to 1 mm in size. (The single fact that microwave radar echoes are detectable requires a substantial density of particles larger than about one centimeter.) During the past decade, additional radar studies of the rings have been conducted, using the λ13.5-cm and λ12.6-cm systems at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Goldstone Tracking Station and the λ112.6-cm system at the National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center’s Arecibo Observatory.