The
Structure of Jupiter's Gossamer Ring
Jupiter's
rings are seen in a mosaic of five images taken by the Solid State
Imaging camera aboard NASA's Galileo spacecraft on October 5,
1996The spacecraft was located only about 0.15 degrees above the
ring plane, making the images highly foreshortened. The appearance
and geometry of these rings is intimately connected with the size,
orbital position, and orbital inclinations of the four small inner
satellites Metis, Adrastea, Amalthea and Thebe. Based on the information
in these images the rings are a short lived dynamic phenomena
that is the result of small dust particles being ejected from
the moons as a result of impacts due to energetic particles in
the magnetosphere.
