D ring

E131345

The D ring is Saturn’s faint, innermost planetary ring, located just above the planet’s cloud tops and composed of tenuous dust and ice particles.

All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
D ring canonical 1

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (41)

Predicate Object
instanceOf planetary ring
ring of Saturn
albedo low
astronomicalCategory ring structure in the outer Solar System
belongsTo Solar System
brightness faint
celestialBody ring of Saturn
composition dust
water ice particles
contains brightness enhancements
narrow ringlets
discoveryMethod spacecraft imaging and occultation observations
distanceFromSaturnCloudTops a few thousand kilometers
dynamics affected by Saturn’s magnetic field
affected by plasma drag
dominated by Saturn’s gravity
hostPlanet Saturn
innerBoundaryRegion closest ring region to Saturn’s visible atmosphere
locationRelativeToPlanet just above Saturn’s cloud tops
observedBy Cassini–Huygens
surface form: Cassini spacecraft

Voyager 1
Voyager 2
observedVariability shows temporal changes in brightness and structure
opticalDepth very low
orbitalDirection prograde around Saturn
orientation lies in Saturn’s equatorial plane
particleLifetime short compared to age of Saturn system
particleSize micrometer-sized particles
partOf Saturn ring system
planetarySystem Saturn
surface form: Saturn system
positionInRingSystem innermost main ring of Saturn
possibleSourceOfMaterial micrometeoroid impacts on inner rings or Saturn’s atmosphere
radialExtent narrow compared to main rings
replenishment requires continuous or episodic resupply of material
ringSystemContext located interior to Saturn’s C ring
ringType tenuous ring
scientificInterest traces interactions between Saturn’s atmosphere, magnetosphere, and rings
shape nearly circular
stability dynamically tenuous
structure diffuse ring
visibilityFromEarth extremely difficult to observe directly

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Saturn hasRingComponent D ring