American Astronomical Society, Astrophysical Journal, 2(766), p. 76, 2013
DOI: 10.1088/0004-637x/766/2/76
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Over the last eight years, the Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) aboard the Cassini orbiter has returned hyperspectral images in the 0.35-5.1 micron range of the icy satellites and rings of Saturn. These very different objects show significant variations in surface composition, roughness and regolith grain size as a result of their evolutionary histories, endogenic processes and interactions with exogenic particles. The distributions of surface water ice and chromophores, i.e. organic and non-icy materials, across the saturnian system, are traced using specific spectral indicators (spectral slopes and absorption band depths) obtained from rings mosaics and disk-integrated satellites observations by VIMS. ; Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal (Part 1)