My research group published several papers on Saturn’s rings last week. I’m an author on two of them:
- Stochastic orbital migration of small bodies in Saturn’s rings – Hanno Rein and John Papaloizou
- Migration of a moonlet in a ring of solid particles: Theory and application to Saturn’s propellers – Aurelien Crida, John Papaloizou, Hanno Rein, Sebastien Charnoz and Julien Salmon
This is a video of one of the simulations (EQ40050DT, to be precise). Make sure you watch it in HD if possible.
It shows a three dimensional simulation of a small moonlet which is embedded in the rings. Due to collisions and gravitational interactions with ring particles, it will eventually undergo a random walk.