Related papers: A pre-Caloris synchronous rotation for Mercury
The upcoming space missions, MESSENGER and BepiColombo with onboard instrumentation capable of measuring the rotational parameters stimulate the objective to reach an accurate theory of the rotational motion of Mercury. For obtaining the…
Recent works suggest that, in multiplanetary systems, a close-in exoplanet can sometimes avoid becoming tidally locked to its host star if it is captured into a secular spin-orbit resonance with a companion planet. In such a resonance, the…
A restricted planar circular three-body system, consisting of the Sun and two planets, is studied as a simple model for a planetary system. The mass of the inner planet is considered to be larger and the system is assumed to be moving in a…
In determining Mercury's core structure from its rotational properties, the value of the normalized moment of inertia, $C/MR^2$, from the location of Cassini 1 is crucial. If Mercury's spin axis occupies Cassini state 1, its position…
Of the solar system's four terrestrial planets, the origin of Mercury is perhaps the most mysterious. Modern numerical simulations designed to model the dynamics of terrestrial planet formation systematically fail to replicate Mercury;…
We investigate the spin behavior of close-in rocky planets and the implications for their orbital evolution. Considering that the planet rotation evolves under simultaneous actions of the torque due to the equatorial deformation and the…
We discuss a model describing the spin orbit resonance cascade. We assume that the primary has a two-layer (core-shell) structure: it is composed by a thin solid crust and an inner and heavier solid core that are interacting due to the…
We present a series of dynamical maps for fictitious 3-planets systems in initially circular coplanar orbits. These maps have unveiled a rich resonant structure involving two or three planets, as well as indicating possible migration routes…
Mean-motion resonances (MMRs) are likely to play an important role both during and after the lifetime of a protostellar gas disk. We study the dynamical evolution and stability of planetary systems containing two giant planets on circular…
The planet Mercury possesses a small but highly dynamic magnetosphere in which the role and dynamics of electrons are still largely unknown. We aim at modeling the global dynamics of solar wind electrons impinging on Mercury's…
Mean motion resonances are a common feature of both our own Solar System and of extrasolar planetary systems. Bodies can be trapped in resonance when their orbital semi-major axes change, for instance when they migrate through a…
Having a massive moon has been considered as a primary mechanism for stabilized planetary obliquity, an example of which being our Earth. This is, however, not always consistent with the exoplanetary cases. This article details the…
The recent detection of the third planet in Kepler-47 has shown that binary stars can host several planets in circumbinary orbits. To understand the evolution of such systems we have performed two-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations of the…
Previous studies have shown that planets that rotate retrograde (backwards with respect to their orbital motion) generally experience less severe obliquity variations than those that rotate prograde (the same direction as their orbital…
Pairs of migrating extrasolar planets often lock into mean motion resonance as they drift inward. This paper studies the convergent migration of giant planets (driven by a circumstellar disk) and determines the probability that they are…
The inner solar system's modern orbital architecture provides inferences into the epoch of terrestrial planet formation; a ~100 Myr time period of planet growth via collisions with planetesimals and other proto-planets. While classic…
A wide range of exoplanet and exomoon models are characterized by a finite average rigidity and a viscosity much lower than the typical values for terrestrials. Such semiliquid bodies may or may not have rigid crusts with permanent figures.…
The process of capture in the coorbital region of a solar system planet is studied. Absolute capture likelihood in the 1:1 resonance is determined by randomly constructed statistical ensembles numbering $7.24\times 10^5$ of massless…
We consider planetary systems evolving under the effect of a Stokes-type dissipative force mimicking the outcome of a type II migration process. As inward migration proceeds and the planets follow the circular family (they start on circular…
The majority of the discovered transiting circumbinary planets are located very near the innermost stable orbits permitted, raising questions about the origins of planets in such perturbed environments. Most favored formation scenarios…