Abstract
The small satellite Aegaeon, less than 1km across, is embedded in an arc located in the G ring of Saturn. This satellite belong to a new class of structures imaged by the Cassini spacecraft, which is formed by small satellites immersed in arcs. Aegaeon is also locked in a 7:6 corotation resonance with the satellite Mimas. It has been proposed that Aegaoen, along with a set of large particles located in this arc, is responsible for the maintenance of the G ring against dissipative forces. In this work, we study the orbital evolution of a sample of tiny particles (sizes ranging from 1 to 100m) under the gravitational effects of Mimas and the solar radiation pressure. These particles were initially spread both along the ring, about ± 20 km from the semimajor axis resonance of Aegaeon, and close to the Aegaeon's surface. Our results show that, despite the particles are initially in a corotation resonance with Mimas, the effects of the solar radiation pressure remove by collision with Aegaeon most of smallest particles from the arc in a timespan of 100yrs. The remaining particles stay confined in the G ring.
