If you want to understand what causes the gaps in Saturn’s rings, just look at a picture taken by Cassini on October 27, 2006. The bright object in the middle of Saturn’s Encke gap is one of its moons: Pan. The tiny moon is only 26 km across, but its minor gravity can clear out the ring particles.
https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA08317
Pan Clearing a Gap in Saturn’s Rings
25. November 2006
