Rotational dynamics and internal structure of Titan |
| |
| Authors: | Bruce G Bills Francis Nimmo |
| |
| Institution: | a Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91009, United States
b Earth and Planetary Science, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, United States |
| |
| Abstract: | Estimates of the moments of inertia of Titan, as separately deduced from its gravitational field and spin pole orientation, are quite different. This discrepancy can be resolved if Titan is either not precessing as a rigid body (e.g. if the shell is decoupled from the interior by an ocean), or if the spin pole is not fully damped (e.g. due to atmospheric excitation). By the end of the Cassini mission, continued monitoring of the changing spin pole orientation, by Cassini radar observations, will determine which effect dominates. |
| |
| Keywords: | Rotational dynamics |
| 本文献已被 ScienceDirect 等数据库收录！ |
|
