Direct detection of gaps in Saturn’s A ring

Abstract

Indirect observations spanning decades have indicated that Saturn’s A ring is populated with a plethora of self-gravity wakes, small wavelike structures that arise from the gravitational attraction between ring particles. We present the direct detection of the gaps that represent the minima between the denser wakes. Through a statistical test, we analyze a series of seven high-resolution stellar occultations observed by the Cassini Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph to identify nearly half a million discrete regions with an optical depth less than a quarter of the surrounding ring. These gaps correlate strongly with previous observations of the A-ring brightness asymmetry.