Related papers: Constraints on the lunar core viscosity from tidal…
Lunar regolith, the layer of unconsolidated material covering the Moon's surface, is central to the science and technology developed for the Moon, notably related to in-situ science investigations, resource utilization, surface…
Free-floating planets (FFPs) can result from dynamical scattering processes happening in the first few million years of a planetary system's life. Several models predict the possibility, for these isolated planetary-mass objects, to retain…
The efficiency of regolith production is key in understanding the properties of airless surfaces. Debris aprons, of fillets, around rocks are an ubiquitous morphology on many surfaces without atmosphere, which origin and evolution are…
The habitable zone for exomoons with Earth-like properties is a non-trivial manifold, compared to that of Earth-like exoplanets. The presence of tidal heating, eclipses and planetary illumination in the exomoon energy budget combine to…
Terrestrial and lunar rocks share chemical and isotopic similarities in refractory elements, suggestive of a common precursor. By contrast, the marked depletion of volatile elements in lunar rocks together with their enrichment in heavy…
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.…
One of the main goals of gravitational-wave astrophysics is to study gravity in the strong-field regime and constrain deviations from general relativity (GR). Any such deviation affects not only binary dynamics and gravitational-wave…
We present population synthesis calculations of the Tidal Downsizing (TD) hypothesis for planet formation. Our models address the following observations: (i) most abundant planets being Super Earths; (ii) cores more massive than $\sim 5-15…
Multiphase gas can be found in many astrophysical environments, such as galactic outflows, stellar wind bubbles, and the circumgalactic medium, where the interplay between turbulence, cooling, and viscosity can significantly influence gas…
Context. The Juno spacecraft has obtained highly accurate tidal Love numbers, which provide important constraints on the tidal response and interior structure of Jupiter. Aims. In order to exploit these observations, it is necessary to…
We consider the Roche critical density (rho_Roche), the minimum density of an orbiting object that, at a given distance from its planet, is able to hold itself together by self-gravity. It is directly related to the more familiar "Roche…
Observations of heavy (${\simeq}2\,M_\odot$) neutron stars in addition to the recent measurement of tidal deformability from the binary neutron-star merger GW170817, place interesting constraints on theories of dense matter. Current and…
The atmospheres of Mars and Titan are loaded with aerosols that impact remote sensing observations of their surface. Here we present the algorithm and the first applications of a radiative transfer model in spherical geometry designed for…
It is known that most of the craters on the surface of the Moon were created by the collision of minor bodies of the Solar System. Main Belt Asteroids, which can approach the terrestrial planets as a consequence of different types of…
We investigate the obliquity and spin period of Earth-Moon like systems after 4.5 Gyr of tidal evolution with various satellite masses and initial planetary obliquity and discuss their relations to the habitability of the planet. We find…
Assuming our Solar System as typical, exomoons may outnumber exoplanets. If their habitability fraction is similar, they would thus constitute the largest portion of habitable real estate in the Universe. Icy moons in our Solar System, such…
Detecting the Earth's inner core motions relative to the mantle presents a considerable challenge due to their indirect accessibility. Seismological observations initially provided evidence for differential/super-rotation of the inner core,…
The Apollo 15 & 16 missions were the first to explore the Lunar surface chemistry by investigating about 10% of the Lunar surface using a remote sensing X-ray fluorescence spectrometer experiment. The data obtained have been extensively…
How fast a satellite decays its orbit depends on how slowly its mass is lost by tide. Motivated by inner halo satellite remnants like the Sgr and Omega Cen, we develop fully analytical models to study the orbital decay and tidal massloss of…
We present new viscosity measurements of a synthetic silicate system considered an analogue for the lava erupted on the surface of Mercury. In particular, we focus on the northern volcanic plains (NVP), which correspond to the largest lava…