Spokes in the rings
* “General information on Saturn’s ring system”:http://pds-rings.seti.org/saturn/saturn.html
* “BBC News article on the spokes – gravitational effect of a moon”:http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4217038.stm
The Cassini probe has allowed astronomers to infer something about the dynamics and structure of the particles that make up Saturn’s rings, and solve a puzzle about the ’spokes’ seen moving around the rings on a previous flyby.
The ring structure has fractal properties, the rings look the same at different scales, and a simple mathematical model called the Henon attractor can be used to generate ring like structures.
* “Henon attractor formulas”:http://mathforum.org/advanced/robertd/henon.html
* “Java applet allowing you to zoom into the Henon attractor”:http://www.cmp.caltech.edu/~mcc/Chaos_Course/Lesson9/Demo1.html
The Java applet is one of several available as part of a “Chaos course”:http://www.cmp.caltech.edu/~mcc/Chaos_Course/Outline.html written by Michael Cross at CalTech.