Coupled orbital-thermal evolution of the main Uranian satellites
Abstract
Some of the main satellites of Uranus, in particular Miranda and Ariel, present evidence of a past geophysical activity. This activity can be associated with internal heating during its history and several causes for this heating are envisaged, like the tides and impact(s), following radiogenic heating at the early stage of the evolution. Here, we present a coupled thermal-orbital model of the history of the main satellites of Uranus, in which not only the orbit acts on the heating, but the heating acts also on the orbit in affecting tidal dissipation. We focus in particular on the past mean-motion resonance Miranda-Umbriel, responsible for Miranda's current high inclination.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2013
- Bibcode:
- 2013AGUFM.P43A2001N
- Keywords:
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- 6290 PLANETARY SCIENCES: SOLAR SYSTEM OBJECTS Uranian satellites