The obliquity of Titan as evidence for the presence of a liquid ocean beneath the surface and perspectives for the determination of the ice shell thickness of Europa

Baland, Rose-Marie;Van Hoolst, Tim;Yseboodt, Marie;Karatekin, Ozgür
(2010) European Planetary Science Congress — Location: Rome, Italy (19.September.2010)

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  • Baland, Rose-MarieUCLouvain
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  • Van Hoolst, TimRoyal Observatory of Belgium
    Author
  • Yseboodt, MarieRoyal Observatory of Belgium
    Author
  • Karatekin, OzgürRoyal Observatory of Belgium
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Abstract
A value of the obliquity of Titan,ε'0.3◦, has been obtained from a study of Cassini radar images [1]. From radio tracking, the quadrupole field of Titan has been found to be consistent with a body in hydrostatic equilibrium, and the resulting moment of inertia, C, is about 0.34MR2[2]. The obliquity value is, however, not consistent with the moment of inertia because the 0.3◦obliquity value implies C= 0.55MR2, according to a study of the Cassini state generalised to a multi-frequency node precession for Titan , in which the ice outer shell is fully coupled with the interior. With a liquid water ocean beneath the ice shell, the shell is only partially coupled with the interior by gravitational, pressure and viscous torques, which may result in a different obliquity value.
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Baland, R.-M., Van Hoolst, T., Yseboodt, M., & Karatekin, O. (2010). The obliquity of Titan as evidence for the presence of a liquid ocean beneath the surface and perspectives for the determination of the ice shell thickness of Europa. European Planetary Science Congress, Rome, Italy. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/24255