@article{HoffmannSeissSpahn2013,
  author    = {Hoffmann, H. and Seiß, Martin and Spahn, Frank},
  title     = {Vertical relaxation of a moonlet propeller in Saturn's a ring},
  series = {The astrophysical journal : an international review of spectroscopy and astronomical physics ; Part 2, Letters},
  volume    = {765},
  journal   = {The astrophysical journal : an international review of spectroscopy and astronomical physics ; Part 2, Letters},
  number    = {1},
  publisher = {IOP Publ. Ltd.},
  address   = {Bristol},
  issn      = {2041-8205},
  doi       = {10.1088/2041-8205/765/1/L4},
  pages     = {3},
  year      = {2013},
  abstract  = {Two images, taken by the Cassini spacecraft near Saturn's equinox in 2009 August, show the Earhart propeller casting a 350 km long shadow, offering the opportunity to watch how the ring height, excited by the propeller moonlet, relaxes to an equilibrium state. From the shape of the shadow cast and a model of the azimuthal propeller height relaxation, we determine the exponential cooling constant of this process to be lambda = 0.07 +/- 0.02 km(-1), and thereby determine the collision frequency of the ring particles in the vertically excited region of the propeller to be omega(c)/Omega = 0.9 +/- 0.2.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{GraetzSeissSchmidtetal.2019,
  author    = {Gr{\"a}tz, Fabio M. and Seiß, Martin and Schmidt, J{\"u}rgen and Colwell, Joshua and Spahn, Frank},
  title     = {Sharp Gap Edges in Dense Planetary Rings},
  series = {The astrophysical journal : an international review of spectroscopy and astronomical physics},
  volume    = {872},
  journal   = {The astrophysical journal : an international review of spectroscopy and astronomical physics},
  number    = {2},
  publisher = {IOP Publ. Ltd.},
  address   = {Bristol},
  issn      = {0004-637X},
  doi       = {10.3847/1538-4357/ab007e},
  pages     = {11},
  year      = {2019},
  abstract  = {One of the most intriguing facets of Saturn's rings are the sharp edges of gaps in the rings where the surface density abruptly drops to zero. This is despite of the fact that the range over which a moon transfers angular momentum onto the ring material is much larger. Recent UVIS-scans of the edges of the Encke and Keeler gap show that this drop occurs over a range approximately equal to the rings' thickness. Borderies et al. show that this striking feature is likely related to the local reversal of the usually outward directed viscous transport of angular momentum in strongly perturbed regions. In this article we revise the Borderies et al. model using a granular flow model to define the shear and bulk viscosities, ν and ζ, and incorporate the angular momentum flux reversal effect into the axisymmetric diffusion model we developed for gaps in dense planetary rings. Finally, we apply our model to the Encke and Keeler division in order to estimate the shear and bulk viscosities in the vicinity of both gaps},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{SeissAlbersSremčevićetal.2019,
  author    = {Seiß, Martin and Albers, Nicole and Sremčević, Miodrag and Schmidt, J{\"u}rgen and Salo, Heikki and Seiler, Michael and Hoffmann, Holger and Spahn, Frank},
  title     = {Hydrodynamic Simulations of Moonlet-induced Propellers in Saturn's Rings},
  series = {The astronomical journal},
  volume    = {157},
  journal   = {The astronomical journal},
  number    = {1},
  publisher = {IOP Publishing Ltd.},
  address   = {Bristol},
  issn      = {0004-6256},
  doi       = {10.3847/1538-3881/aaed44},
  pages     = {11},
  year      = {2019},
  abstract  = {One of the biggest successes of the Cassini mission is the detection of small moons (moonlets) embedded in Saturns rings that cause S-shaped density structures in their close vicinity, called propellers. Here, we present isothermal hydrodynamic simulations of moonlet-induced propellers in Saturn's A ring that denote a further development of the original model. We find excellent agreement between these new hydrodynamic and corresponding N-body simulations. Furthermore, the hydrodynamic simulations confirm the predicted scaling laws and the analytical solution for the density in the propeller gaps. Finally, this mean field approach allows us to simulate the pattern of the giant propeller Bl{\´e}riot, which is too large to be modeled by direct N-body simulations. Our results are compared to two stellar occultation observations by the Cassini Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrometer (UVIS), which intersect the propeller Bl{\´e}riot. Best fits to the UVIS optical depth profiles are achieved for a Hill radius of 590 m, which implies a moonlet diameter of about 860 m. Furthermore, the model favors a kinematic shear viscosity of the surrounding ring material of ν0 = 340 cm2 s-1, a dispersion velocity in the range of 0.3 cm s-1 < c0 < 1.5 cm s-1, and a fairly high bulk viscosity 7 < ξ0/ν0 < 17. These large transport values might be overestimated by our isothermal ring model and should be reviewed by an extended model including thermal fluctuations.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{SeilerSeissHoffmannetal.2019,
  author    = {Seiler, Michael and Seiß, Martin and Hoffmann, Holger and Spahn, Frank},
  title     = {Hydrodynamic Simulations of Asymmetric Propeller Structures in Saturn's Rings},
  series = {The astrophysical journal : an international review of spectroscopy and astronomical physics ; Supplement series},
  volume    = {243},
  journal   = {The astrophysical journal : an international review of spectroscopy and astronomical physics ; Supplement series},
  number    = {2},
  publisher = {IOP Publ. Ltd.},
  address   = {Bristol},
  issn      = {0067-0049},
  doi       = {10.3847/1538-4365/ab26b0},
  pages     = {16},
  year      = {2019},
  abstract  = {The observation of the non-Keplerian behavior of propeller structures in Saturn's outer A ring raises the question: how does the propeller respond to the wandering of the central embedded moonlet? Here, we study numerically how the structural imprint of the propeller changes for a libration of the moonlet. It turns out that the libration induces an asymmetry in the propeller, which depends on the libration period and amplitude of the moonlet. Further, we study the dependence of the asymmetry on the libration period and amplitude for a moonlet with a 400 m Hill radius, which is located in the outer A ring. This allows us to apply our findings to the largest known propeller Bl{\´e}riot, which is expected to be of a similar size. For Bl{\´e}riot, we can conclude that, supposing the moonlet is librating with the largest observed period of 11.1 yr and an azimuthal amplitude of about 1845 km, a small asymmetry should be measurable but depends on the moonlet's libration phase at the observation time. The longitude residuals of other trans-Encke propellers (e.g., Earhart) show amplitudes similar to Bl{\´e}riot, which might allow us to observe larger asymmetries due to their smaller azimuthal extent, allowing us to scan the whole gap structure for asymmetries in one observation. Although the librational model of the moonlet is a simplification, our results are a first step toward the development of a consistent model for the description of the formation of asymmetric propellers caused by a freely moving moonlet.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{GraetzSeissSpahn2018,
  author    = {Gr{\"a}tz, Fabio M. and Seiss, Martin and Spahn, Frank},
  title     = {Formation of moon-induced gaps in dense planetary rings},
  series = {The astrophysical journal : an international review of spectroscopy and astronomical physics},
  volume    = {862},
  journal   = {The astrophysical journal : an international review of spectroscopy and astronomical physics},
  number    = {2},
  publisher = {IOP Publ. Ltd.},
  address   = {Bristol},
  issn      = {0004-637X},
  doi       = {10.3847/1538-4357/aace00},
  pages     = {9},
  year      = {2018},
  abstract  = {We develop an axisymmetric diffusion model to describe radial density profiles in the vicinity of tiny moons embedded in planetary rings. Our diffusion model accounts for the gravitational scattering of the ring particles by an embedded moon and for the viscous diffusion of the ring matter back into the gap. With test particle simulations, we show that the scattering of the ring particles passing the moon is larger for small impact parameters than estimated by Goldreich \& Tremaine and Namouni. This is significant for modeling the Keeler gap. We apply our model to the gaps of the moons Pan and Daphnis embedded in the outer A ring of Saturn with the aim to estimate the shear viscosity of the ring in the vicinity of the Encke and Keeler gap. In addition, we analyze whether tiny icy moons whose dimensions lie below Cassini's resolution capabilities would be able to explain the gap structure of the C ring and the Cassini division.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{SeilerSremcevicSeissetal.2017,
  author    = {Seiler, Martin and Sremcevic, Miodrag and Seiss, Martin and Hoffmann, Holger and Spahn, Frank},
  title     = {A Librational Model for the Propeller Bleriot in the Saturnian Ring System},
  series = {The astrophysical journal : an international review of spectroscopy and astronomical physics ; Part 2, Letters},
  volume    = {840},
  journal   = {The astrophysical journal : an international review of spectroscopy and astronomical physics ; Part 2, Letters},
  publisher = {IOP Publ. Ltd.},
  address   = {Bristol},
  issn      = {2041-8205},
  doi       = {10.3847/2041-8213/aa6d73},
  pages     = {6},
  year      = {2017},
  language  = {en}
}