An absolute radius scale for Saturn's rings

Abstract

Radio and stellar occultation observations of Saturn's rings made by the Voyager spacecraft are discussed. The data reveal systematic discrepancies of almost 10 km in some parts of the rings, limiting some of the investigations. A revised solution for Saturn's rotation pole has been proposed which removes the discrepancies between the stellar and radio occultation profiles. Corrections to previously published radii vary from -2 to -10 km for the radio occultation, and +5 to -6 km for the stellar occultation. An examination of spiral density waves in the outer A Ring supports that the revised absolute radii are in error by no more than 2 km.