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Saturn's C ring contains multiple spiral patterns that appear to be densitywaves driven by periodic gravitational perturbations. In other parts ofSaturn's rings, such waves are generated by Lindblad resonances with Saturn'svarious moons, but most of the wave-like C-ring features are not situated nearany strong resonance with any known moon. Using stellar occultation dataobtained by the Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) onboard theCassini spacecraft, we investigate the origin of six unidentified C-ring waveslocated between 80,900 and 87,200 km from Saturn's center. By measuringdifferences in the waves' phases among the different occultations, we are ableto determine both the number of arms in each spiral pattern and the speeds atwhich these patterns rotate around the planet. We find that all six of thesewaves have between 2 and 4 arms and pattern speeds between 1660 degrees/day and1861 degrees/day. These speeds are too large to be attributed to any satelliteresonance. Instead they are comparable to the predicted pattern speeds of wavesgenerated by low-order normal-mode oscillations within the planet [Marley &Porco 1993, Icarus 106, 508]. The precise pattern speeds associated with thesewaves should therefore provide strong constraints on Saturn's internalstructure. Furthermore, we identify multiple waves with the same number of armsand very similar pattern speeds, indicating that multiple m=3 and m=2 sectoral(l=m) modes may exist within the planet.

Kronoseismology: Using density waves in Saturn's C ring to probe the planet's interior