Image Title: Satellite Inclinations in 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: R11_sats_full.jpg (178 kbytes)

Original Caption Released with Image:

An artist's sketch showing the relative positions of Jupiter's ring material as derived from three small ring-moons: Adrastea, Amalthea, and Thebe. Adrastea, the smallest moon, is the best source because all its impact ejecta escapes after impacts. As the paths of this debris are dragged inward, a ring forms radially interior to the satellite's orbit. This band is equatorial and vertically thin because its source satellite lies in Jupiter's equatorial plane; however, since Amalthea and Thebe have slightly inclined orbits, the debris that leaves them rapidly fills thin cylindrical shells lying about the satellite orbital positions with heights corresponding to the maximum excursions that the satellites make off the equatorial plane. Thebe's gossamer ring is taller than Amalthea's because Thebe's orbit is more inclined. Over longer times, the bands associated with Amalthea and Thebe would spiral inward to produce washer-like rings (not shown).

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 Formation of Rings

Related release on Satellite Interactions with 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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