NASA Logo

NTRS

NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server

Back to Results
Ring torque on Janus and the melting of EnceladusThe absence of craters noted on Voyager 2 images of Encedalus indicates geologically recent resurfacing, probably due to internal melting; heating mechanism calculations, however, yield heating rates too small to cause melting. If Janus, whose orbital mean motion is currently decreasing as Janus' orbit evolves outward due to resonant torques from Saturn's rings, were ever to become locked into a stable 2:1 orbital commensurability with Encedalus, the resulting angular momentum transfer could have sufficiently enhanced the eccentricity of Encedalus' orbit for the ensuing tidal heating to have melted Encedalus' interior. However, the predicted rapid time scale for ring evolution due to resonant torques from Saturn's inner moons remains a major problem.
Document ID
19840056315
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Lissauer, J. J.
(NASA Ames Research Center Space Science Div., Moffett Field; California, University, Berkeley, CA, United States)
Peale, S. J.
(California, University Santa Barbara, CA, United States)
Cuzzi, J. N.
(NASA Ames Research Center Space Science Div., Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Date Acquired
August 12, 2013
Publication Date
May 1, 1984
Publication Information
Publication: Icarus
Volume: 58
ISSN: 0019-1035
Subject Category
Astronomy
Accession Number
84A39102
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NGR-05-010-062
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

Available Downloads

There are no available downloads for this record.
No Preview Available