A secondary resonance in Mercury's rotation

Sandrine D'Hoedt, Benoît Noyelles, Julien Dufey, Anne Lemaître

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticle

    Abstract

    The resonant rotation of Mercury can be modelised by a kernel model on which we can add perturbations. Our kernel model is a two-degree of freedom one written in Hamiltonian formalism. For this kernel, we consider that Mercury is solid and rotates on a keplerian orbit. By introducing the perturbations due to the other planets of the Solar System, it appears that, in a particular case, our slow degree of freedom may enter in a 1:1 resonance with the Great Inequality of Jupiter and Saturn. Actually, as the moments of inertia of Mercury are still poorly known, this phenomenon cannot be excluded.
    Original languageEnglish
    JournalCelestial Mechanics & Dynamical Astronomy
    Publication statusUnpublished - 2010

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