Related papers: Constraints on Moon's orbit 3.2 billion years ago …
Impacts that leave the Earth-Moon system with a large excess in angular momentum have recently been advocated as a means of generating a protolunar disc with a composition that is nearly identical to that of the Earth's mantle. We here…
The variation of a planet's obliquity is influenced by the existence of satellites with a high mass ratio. For instance, the Earth's obliquity is stabilized by the Moon, and would undergo chaotic variations in the Moon's absence. In turn,…
The existence of plate tectonics on the Earth is directly dependent on the internal viscosity contrast, mass of the planet, availability of liquid water and an internal heat source. However, the initial conditions of rotational velocity and…
Over the course of 3.1 years we determined the position of Mars on 75 dates using a handheld cross staff and two to five bright reference stars of known right ascension and declination on each occasion. On average the observed positions of…
Tides represent the daily alternations of high and low waters along coastlines and in oceans, and the current theory (termed the gravitational forcing mechanism) explains them as a manifestation of the response of ocean water to the Moon's…
Solar activity is a process driven by many independent but interconnected phenomena. Although the 11-year cycle is the result of operation of the dynamo mechanism, the cause of longer secular variations is not clear. In search of such a…
The Earth's Moon is thought to have formed by an impact between the Earth and an impactor around 4.5 billion years ago. This impact could have been so energetic that it could have mixed and homogenized the Earth's mantle. However, this view…
We investigate the possibility that the Moon's formation impact was triggered by an early dynamical instability of the giant planets. We consider the well-studied "jumping Jupiter" hypothesis for the solar system's instability, where…
The surface angular velocity evolution of low-mass stars is now globally understood and the main physical mechanisms involved in it are observationally quite constrained. Additionally, recent observations showed anomalies in the rotation…
A simple and clear method is proposed to calculate the averaged motion of the apsis line in the Moon orbit. The obtained result is $3^{\circ}1'12''$ for the starry period of the Moon revolution around the Earth or $40^{\circ}22'48''$ per…
Subsequent to the Moon's formation, late accretion to the terrestrial planets modified their silicate crusts and mantles. We combine dynamical N-body and Monte Carlo simulations to determine impact probabilities, impact velocities, and…
The sunspot record since 1749 is made of three major cycles (9.98, 10.9 and 11.86 yr). The side frequencies are related to the spring tidal period of Jupiter and Saturn (9.93 yr) and to the tidal sidereal period of Jupiter (11.86 yr). A…
Moons orbiting extrasolar planets are the next class of object to be observed and characterized for possible habitability. Like the host-planets to their host-star, exomoons have a limiting radius at which they may be gravitationally bound,…
We consider the evolution of a binary system interacting due to tidal effects without restriction on the orientation of the orbital, and where significant, spin angular momenta, and orbital eccentricity. We work in the low tidal forcing…
Prior to the invention of the telescope many astronomers worked out theories of the motion of the Moon. The purpose of such theories was to be able to predict the position of the Moon in the sky. These geometrical models implied a certain…
The Earth--Moon system has been experiencing impacts from asteroids and comets for billions of years. The Moon, as an airless body, has preserved a distinct record of these events in form of impact craters and ejecta deposits, offering…
We examine how tides, stellar evolution, and magnetic braking shape the rotation period (P$_{rot}$) evolution of low-mass stellar binaries up to orbital periods (P$_{orb}$) of 100 d across a wide range tidal dissipation parameters using two…
Tidal effects arise from differential and inelastic deformation of a planet by a perturbing body. The continuous action of tides modify the rotation of the planet together with its orbit until an equilibrium situation is reached. It is…
Solar wind turbulence is a dynamical phenomenon that evolves with heliocentric distance. Orbiting Mars since September 2014, Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) offers a unique opportunity to explore some of its main properties…
The wind-driven hopping motion of sand grains, known as saltation, forms dunes and ripples and ejects fine dust particles into the atmosphere on both Earth and Mars. While the wind speed at which saltation is initiated, the fluid threshold,…