The effect of tides on the forced libration of large icy satellites
(2013) Lunar and Planetary Science Conference — Location: The Woodlands, Texas (18.March.2013)
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- Abstract
- The gravitational force exerted by a central planet de- forms its orbiting moons (tides) and periodically changes their rotation (librations). Tides and librations of large icy satellites rotating synchronously with their orbital motion are usually studied separately but we here show that tides can substantially reduce the libration ampli- tude of large icy satellites with a subsurface ocean. Moreover, libration also slightly changes the tides. Pe- riodic tides affect libration in two ways: first the periodic tidal bulges modify the gravitational torque exerted by the central planet on the satellite and, secondly, the zonal tides periodically change the polar moment of the satel- lite, which acts as the inertia for rotational motion. Here we report on a new method developed to study these elas- tic effects on the longitudinal librations of icy satellites and present numerical results for the largest icy satellites in the solar system: Europa, Ganymede, Callisto, and Ti- tan.
- Affiliations
Royal Observatory of Belgium Reference Systems and Planetology
Citations
Van Hoolst, T., Baland, R.-M., Rivoldini, A., & Yseboodt, M. (2013). The effect of tides on the forced libration of large icy satellites. Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, The Woodlands, Texas. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/186560