Zebker H A, Tyler G L
Science. 1984 Jan 27;223(4634):396-8. doi: 10.1126/science.223.4634.396.
Earth-based telescopic observations indicate that Saturn's rings are about 1 kilometer thick, while spacecraft measurements and theoretical considerations give an upper bound of about 100 meters. Analysis of a shielding effect present in radio occultation provides a sensitive new measure of the ring thickness. On the basis of this effect, Voyager 1 microwave measurements of near-forward scatter imply a thickness ranging from less than 10 meters in ring C to about 20 and 50 meters in the Cassini division and ring A, respectively. Monolayer models do not fit the observations in the latter two regions. The discrepancy between the Earth-based and spacecraft measurements may be due to warps in the ring plane or effects of tenuous material outside the primary ring system.
地面望远镜观测表明，土星环约1公里厚，而航天器测量结果和理论推测给出的上限约为100米。对无线电掩星中存在的屏蔽效应进行分析，可提供一种测量环厚度的灵敏新方法。基于这种效应，旅行者1号对近前向散射的微波测量表明，环C的厚度小于10米，卡西尼缝和环A的厚度分别约为20米和50米。单层模型并不符合后两个区域的观测结果。地面测量与航天器测量之间的差异可能是由于环平面的翘曲或主环系统之外稀薄物质的影响。
