Jupiter’s Rings are built in the shade

Source: University of Maryland Press Release

The Galileo spacecraft orbited Jupiter from 1995-2003 and one discovery made by this mission was an anomaly in Jupiter’s rings. For the most part, the rings fall into the standard model of ring formation where the ring particles are shepherded by the orbits of four of Jupiter’s moons; Adrastea, Metis, Amalthea and Thebe (closest to farthest.) But a faint outward protrusion of dust extends beyond the orbit of Thebe, and scientists were mystified why this was occurring. A new study of data from the Galileo mission has found that this extension results from the interplay of shadow and sunlight on dust particles that make up the rings.

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