Related papers: The Tethered Moon
The early evolution of the Earth-Moon system prescribes the tidal environment of the Hadean Earth and holds the key to the formation mechanism of the Moon and its thermal evolution. Estimating its early state by backtracking from the…
Forming the Moon by a high-angular momentum impact may explain the Earth-Moon isotopic similarities, however, the post-impact angular momentum needs to be reduced by a factor of 2 or more to the current value (1 L_EM) after the Moon forms.…
A high-angular momentum giant impact with the Earth can produce a Moon with a silicate isotopic composition nearly identical to that of Earth's mantle, consistent with observations of terrestrial and lunar rocks. However, such an event…
We build a conceptual coupled model of the climate and tidal evolution of the Earth-Moon system to find the influence of the former on the latter. An energy balance model is applied to calculate steady-state temperature field from the mean…
Various theories have been proposed to explain the Moon's current inclined orbit. We test the viability of these theories by reconstructing the thermal-orbital history of the Moon. We build on past thermal-orbital models and incorporate the…
Due to tidal interactions in the Earth-Moon system, the spin of the Earth slows down and the Moon drifts away. This recession of the Moon is now measured with great precision, but it has been realized, more than fifty years ago, that simple…
The Moon migrated to $r_{\leftmoon}\simeq3.8\times10^{10}$ cm over a characteristic time $r/v=10^{10}$ Gyr by tidal interaction with the Earth's oceans at a present velocity of $v=3.8$ cm yr$^{-1}$. We derive scaling of global dissipation…
The early thermal evolution of Moon has been numerically simulated to understand the magnitude of the impact induced heating and the initially stored thermal energy of the accreting Moonlets. The main objective of the present study is to…
Prevailing models for the formation of the Moon invoke a giant impact between a planetary embryo and the proto-Earth \citep{Canup_2004, Cuk_Stewart_2012}. Despite similarities in the isotopic and chemical abundances of refractory elements…
In the aftermath of the Moon-forming giant impact, the Hadean Earth's mantle and surface crystallized from a global magma ocean blanketed by a dense volatile-rich atmosphere. While prior studies have explored the thermal evolution of such…
The angular momentum of the Earth-Moon system was initially dominated by Earth's rotation with a short solar day of around 5 hours duration. Since then, Earth gradually transferred angular momentum through tidal friction to the orbit of the…
In the giant impact hypothesis for lunar origin, the Moon accreted from an equatorial circum-terrestrial disk; however the current lunar orbital inclination of 5 degrees requires a subsequent dynamical process that is still debated. In…
We create the first quantitative model for the early lunar atmosphere, coupled with a magma ocean crystallization model. Immediately after formation, the moon's surface was subject to a radiative environment that included contributions from…
The Moon is generally thought to have formed from the debris ejected by the impact of a planet-sized object with the proto-Earth towards the end of planetary accretion. Modeling of the impact process predicts that the lunar material was…
Quantifying the energy budget of Earth in the first few million years following the Moon-forming giant impact is vital to understanding Earth's initial thermal state and the dynamics of lunar tidal evolution. After the impact, the body was…
The habitability of exoplanets can be strongly influenced by the presence of an exomoon, and in some cases the exomoon itself could be a possible place for life to develop. For moons outside of the habitable zone, significant tidal heating…
Using viscoelastic mass spring model simulations to track heat distribution inside a tidally perturbed body, we measure the asymmetry of heating in the crust of a spin synchronous Moon in eccentric orbit about the Earth. With the Moon…
Tidal force plays an important role in the evolution of the planet-moon system. The tidal force of a moon can excite seismic waves in the planet it is orbiting. A tidal-seismic resonance is expected when a tidal force frequency matches a…
With the detection of extrasolar moons (exomoons) on the horizon, it is important to consider their potential for habitability. If we consider the circumstellar Habitable Zone (HZ, often described in terms of planet semi-major axis and…
Understanding the physics of planetary magma oceans has been the subject of growing efforts, in light of the increasing abundance of Solar system samples and extrasolar surveys. A rocky planet harboring such an ocean is likely to interact…