Related papers: The obliquity of Enceladus
Orbital forcing plays a key role in pacing the glacial-interglacial cycles. However, the mechanistic linkages between the orbital parameters - eccentricity, obliquity, and precession - and global ice volume remain unclear. Here, we…
We perform axisymmetric hydrodynamical simulations that describe the nonlinear outcome of the viscous overstability in dense planetary rings. These simulations are particularly relevant for Cassini observations of fine-scale structure in…
We quantitatively address the conjecture that magnetic helicity must be shed from the Sun by eruptions launching coronal mass ejections in order to limit its accumulation in each hemisphere. By varying the ratio of guide and strapping field…
In a number of geophysical or planetological settings (Earth's inner core, a silicate mantle crystallizing from a magma ocean, or an ice shell surrounding a deep water ocean) a convecting crystalline layer is in contact with a layer of its…
The tidal tails of stellar clusters provide an important tool for studying the birth conditions of the clusters and their evolution, coupling, and interaction with the Galactic potential. We present the N-body evolution of a Hyades-like…
Layered semi-convection could operate in giant planets, potentially explaining the constraints on the heavy elements distribution in Jupiter deduced recently from Juno observations, and contributing to Saturn's luminosity excess or the…
We provide a consistent theory of the tachocline confinement (or anisotropic momentum transport) within an hydrodynamical turbulence model. The goal is to explain helioseismological data, which show that the solar tachocline thickness is at…
Saturn possesses a dynamically rich system containing numerous moons and impressive rings. Whether the rings of Saturn are much younger than the planet itself has been a long-open question; more recently a young age has been proposed for…
The arrival of powerful instruments will provide valuable data for the characterization of rocky exoplanets. It is then crucial to accurately model the dynamical state of exoplanets. Rocky planets with sufficiently large orbits should have…
The orbit of the outer satellite Alexhelios of (216) Kleopatra is already constrained by adaptive-optics astrometry, obtained with the VLT/SPHERE instrument. However, there is also a preceding occultation event in 1980 attributed to this…
We present a comprehensive theoretical study on the spin evolution of a planet under the combined effects of tidal dissipation and gravitational perturbation from an external companion. Such a "spin + companion" system (called Colombo's…
The tilt of a planet's spin axis off its orbital axis ("obliquity") is a basic physical characteristic that plays a central role in determining the planet's global circulation and energy redistribution. Moreover, recent studies have also…
We investigate the properties of the hydrodynamic flow around eccentric protoplanets and compare them with the often assumed case of a circular orbit. To this end, we perform a set of 3D hydrodynamic simulations of protoplanets with small…
Layered semi-convection is a possible candidate to explain Saturn's luminosity excess and the abnormally large radius of some hot Jupiters. In giant planet interiors, it could lead to the creation of density staircases, which are convective…
Mars' polar layered deposits (PLD) are comprised of layers of varying dust-to-water ice volume mixing ratios (VMR) that may record astronomically-forced climatic variation over Mars' recent orbital history. Retracing the formation of these…
Asynchronous rotation and orbital eccentricity lead to time-dependent irradiation of the close-in gas giant exoplanets -- the hot Jupiters. This time-dependent surface heating gives rise to fluid motions which propagate throughout the…
We analyse the potential vorticity of Saturn's polar regions, as it is a fundamental dynamical tracer that enables us to improve our understanding of the dynamics of these regions and their seasonal variability. In particular, we present…
Enceladus is a saturnian satellite that should have liquid water inside of it (subsurface ocean). Measurements and experiments on water plume from Enceladus have revealed that Enceladus' ocean contains several salts such as NaCl. On the…
Tidal dissipation within a short-period transiting extrasolar planet perturbed by a companion object can drive orbital evolution of the system to a so-called tidal fixed point, in which the apsidal lines of the transiting planet and its…
Aims: We aim to determine whether Jupiter's obliquity is bound to remain exceptionally small in the Solar System, or if it could grow in the future and reach values comparable to those of the other giant planets. Methods: The spin axis of…