Formation of rings in the equatorial plane of gaseous stars

Abstract

Gasdynamic behavior is supposed to play an important role in the phenomena involved in gaseous stars like Saturn. From this viewpoint the gasdynamic motion in Saturn under the influence of gravity field is analyzed and the results are compared with the data of Saturn observations by Voyager I. The distortions of gravity field are regarded as small disturbance due to the rotation of spherical gaseous stars in view of Saturn having a small oblateness and as a result it is found that a periodic change in gravity potential happens concentrated on the equatorial plane. It is recognized that the positions of Saturn's rings and satellites generally correspond to the wells of the gravity potential. Approximations and speculations for velocity distribution and specific-heat ratio which have to be made in the analysis fortunately seem to have no significant influence on the results of the analysis. Good coincidence between the analysis in this paper and the observation data suggests an effective applicability of gasdynamics to the space science.