An aperture synthesis study of Saturn and its rings at 3.71-cm wavelength

We present aperture synthesis maps of the Saturn system at a wavelength of 3.71 cm. The data used to make the maps were obtained in May–June 1976 at the Owens Valley Radio Observatory on 13 interferometer baselines. The aperture synthesis maps contain few assumptions about the brightness structure of Saturn and the rings and, therefore, may be used to check previous model-fitting results as well as search for new unmodeled features. Generally, the maps confirm the previous model-fitting results. An exception to this is that the brightness temperature of the planet that is implied by the maps is about 4% less than that deduced from model fitting. The likely explanation of this discrepancy is that random errors on the phase of the visibility function have led to an underestimate of the planet brightness temperature in the map. Maps of the residuals to the model fits have shown that the position of Saturn given in the American Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac may be in error by about 0.25 arcsec. Maps of the residuals to model fits including a position offset show that no new features of the Saturn brightness structure are required to match the present data. In particular, no azimuthal variations in the brightness temperature of the rings were detected.