The generation and evolution of dust particles through collision ofIDPs in the Saturn system

Saturn is known for its extensive and complex ring system. In many cases, the origin and evolution this structure are closely linked to interactions with satellites. These satellites can produce material capable of populating the rings through particle generation by collision of interplanetary projectiles (IDPs) with their surfaces. The amount of particles generated is related to the flux of projectiles. These IDPs originate from various sources such as comets and objects from the Kuiper Belt and the flux of these objects is usually estimated from measurements made by the space probes. After being ejected, the particles are influenced by many forces: gravitational (both from the planet and the satellites), oblateness, electromagnetic, solar radiation and plasma drag.

In this study, we propose to analyze the dust generation from Saturn’s satellites, by computing the amount of dust generated by each satellite through the flux of IDPs. We will also compare the dust production rate for each Saturn’s family, taking into account recently discovered satellites to further analyze the mechanisms of transport and fate of the particles. We validated our code using the results from Sfair & Giuliatti Winter (2012) and from the data obtained, we have observed that the dust production rate is directly proportional to the radius of the satellite.

We selected two satellites of Gallic family to illustrate our results. Albiorix which has a radius of approximately 13 km and produces 1.41 × 10−1 gs−1 of dust, while Bebhionn has a radius of 3 km and produces a rate of 7.40 × 10−3 gs−1, these are the extreme values we found for this family. Analyzing other cases, we see that the satellite that produces the most dust in the Inuit group is Sianarq, with a rate of 2.04 × 10−1 gs−1, and in the Nordic group is Ymir, with a production of
5.66 × 10−2 gs−1.

Subsequently, we are analyzing the evolution of these dust particle shortly after they are ejected from the satellites. Analyzing previous studies on the ejection of dust particles from Iapetus and Phoebe, we know that the particles ejected from the satellites, under the influence of oblateness force, electromagnetic force, solar radiation, and plasma drag, are transported close to the planet due to the influence of solar radiation force, resulting in potential collisions with the satellites and the planet. In our case, we detected collisions with Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea, Titan, Janus, Telesto ans with the planet itself (approximately 90% of the collisions). By integrating solar tidal effects into our study, we intend to examine how this force influences the particles.