Image Title: The Formation of Jupiter's Ring System Target Name: J Rings Is a satellite of: Jupiter Mission: Galileo Spacecraft: Galileo Orbiter Instrument: Solid State Imaging Produced By: Cornell University Creation Date: 1998-09-15 Primary Data Set: Galileo EDRs Full-Res JPEG: R08_satorb_full.jpg (178 kbytes)

Original Caption Released with Image:

Artist's conception of how rings may be produced by debris from collisions with small satellites. The satellite, shown at the right side, moves about Jupiter on a circular equatorial orbit, viewed here from an oblique angle. The satellite is continually bombarded by high speed interplanetary meteoroids. Most of the debris from these collisions escapes the satellite totally and moves along its own orbit about Jupiter. At first, because the escape speeds are very much less than orbital speeds, these particles move along paths almost identical to that of the source satellite. Over time as they absorb sunlight, the orbits of the small particles spiral inward. An equatorial planetary ring, shown shaded, develops; the ring's radial extent depends on how long the particles survive in Jupiter's fierce surroundings.

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA manages the Galileo mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC.

This image and other images and data received from Galileo are posted on the World Wide Web, on the Galileo mission home page at URL http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo. Background information and educational context for the images can be found at: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/sepo.

Image Note:

Related release on Satellite Interactions with Rings

Relates release on Satellite Inclinations in the Rings

Artist's drawing by Jim Houghton.

This page is not a Planetary PhotoJournal release, but is an illustration provided by the Galileo imaging (SSI) team as further background for other releases of imaging data.

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Galileo Solid State Imaging Team Leader: Dr. Michael J. S. Belton

The SSI Education and Public Outreach webpages were originally created and managed by Matthew Fishburn and Elizabeth Alvarez with significant assistance from Kelly Bender, Ross Beyer, Detrick Branston, Stephanie Lyons, Eileen Ryan, and Nalin Samarasinha.

Last updated: September 17, 1999, by Matthew Fishburn

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