The Evolution of Saturn's F Ring

Saturn's F ring has brightened markedly in the last 25 years. It is twice as bright in the Cassini data as it was in the Voyager data from 1980 and 1981. We attribute this change to increasing perturbations by nearby Prometheus, which passes closer to the ring now that it did in the Voyager era, yielding more dust. Rob French will discuss the observations and analysis that led us to this conclusion.