Related papers: Early Dynamics of the Lunar Core
In the companion paper ("Erosion rate of lunar soil under a landing rocket, part 1: identifying the rate-limiting physics", this issue) an equation was developed for the rate that lunar soil erodes under the exhaust of a landing rocket.…
Recent high-precision measurements of the isotopic composition of lunar rocks demonstrate that the bulk silicate Earth and the Moon show an unexpectedly high degree of similarity. This is inconsistent with one of the primary results of…
Above lunar crustal magnetic anomalies, large fractions of solar wind electrons and ions can be scattered and stream back towards the solar wind flow, leading to a number of interesting effects such as electrostatic instabilities and waves.…
A new analysis of extended data records collected with the Lunar Laser Ranging (LLR) technique performed with improved tidal models was not able to resolve the issue of the anomalous rate $\dot e$ of the eccentricity $e$ of the orbit of the…
We study the interaction between the Moon and the solar wind using a three-dimensional hybrid plasma solver. The proton fluxes and electromagnetical fields are presented for typical solar wind conditions with different magnetic field…
Stars between two and three solar masses rotate rapidly on the main sequence, and the detection of slow core and surface rotation in the core-helium burning phase for these stars places strong constraints on their angular momentum transport…
Observations of chromospheric and coronal emissions from various solar-type stars show that the stellar magnetic activity varies with the rotation rates of the stars. The faster the star rotates, its magnetic activity gets stronger but…
The solar wind wake behind the moon is studied with 1D electrostatic particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations using a physical ion to electron mass ratio (unlike prior investigations); the simulations also apply more generally to supersonic flow…
The timing of the Moon's formation is fundamental to understanding the early Earth-Moon system. Ages of lunar magma ocean (LMO) crystallization have long been regarded as a key proxy for that event. Yet returned lunar sample ages cluster…
We investigate the formation of hot and massive circumplanetary disks (CPDs) and the orbital evolution of satellites formed in these disks. Because of the comparatively small size-scale of the sub-disk, quick magnetic diffusion prevents the…
We simulate the hypothesised collision between the proto-Earth and a Mars-sized impactor that created the Moon. Amongst the resulting debris disk in some impacts, we find a self-gravitating clump of material. It is roughly the mass of the…
Simulations of the moon-forming impact suggest that most of the lunar material derives from the impactor rather than the Earth. Measurements of lunar samples, however, reveal an oxygen isotope composition that is indistinguishable from…
Flow analysis of big basins is given. Internal structure of flows is considered. Correlations between flows are calculated. For example, Mare Orientale is a moving basin. Orientale and Imbrium continental basins are introduced and are…
Mercury is expected to deviate from the classical Cassini state since this state is defined for a uniformly precessing rigid planet. We develop an extended Cassini state model that includes the variations (or nutations) in obliquity and…
Tidal interactions between moons and planets can have major effects on the orbits, spins, and thermal evolution of the moons. In the Saturn system, tidal dissipation in the planet transfers angular momentum from Saturn to the moons, causing…
Rotational mixing is a prime candidate for explaining the gradual depletion of lithium from the photospheres of cool stars during the main sequence. However, previous mixing calculations have relied primarily on treatments of angular…
Understanding the Moon's formation mechanism is necessary for studying not only the Moon itself, but also the evolution, formation, habitability, and structure of other planets and the moons in the Solar system and in extrasolar planetary…
In1879 George Howard Darwin theoretically analyzed the outward spiraling orbit of Moon and the subsequent lengthening of the Mean Solar Day. The author redid the same analysis based on the fact that Moon was receding at the rate of 3.8 cm…
A large drift in the rotation rate of Titan observed by Cassini provided the first evidence of a subsurface ocean isolating the massive core from the icy crust. Seasonal exchange of angular momentum between the surface and atmosphere…
The rotation of Mercury is presently captured in a 3/2 spin-orbit resonance with the orbital mean motion. The capture mechanism is well understood as the result of tidal interactions with the Sun combined with planetary perturbations.…