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Some of the Small Shepherd Satellites Within Saturn's Ring System

Question 96

Multiple Choice

Some of the small shepherd satellites within Saturn's ring system are also inside Saturn's Roche limit. Why are they not torn apart by tidal forces due to Saturn's gravity?


A) The Roche limit applies only to the ring particles, not to anything as large as a satellite.
B) The Roche limit only applies to objects held together by mutual gravitational attraction, not to chunks of rock like the shepherd satellites.
C) Unlike the ring particles, the satellites are large enough to produce significant gravitational fields of their own, and these counteract the tidal forces.
D) The interaction between Saturn's strong magnetic field and the magnetic fields generated by the shepherd satellites helps to hold the satellites together.

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