No Pseudosynchronous Rotation for Terrestrial Planets and Moons.

摘要

We re-examine the popular belief that a telluric planet or a satellite on an eccentric orbit can, outside a spin-orbit resonance, be captured in a quasi-static tidal equilibrium called pseudosynchronous rotation. The existence of such configurations was deduced from oversimplified tidal models assuming either a constant tidal torque or a torque linear in the tidal frequency. A more accurate treatment requires that the torque be decomposed into the Darwin-Kaula series over the tidal modes, and that this decomposition be combined with a realistic choice of rheological properties of the mantle, which we choose to be a combination of the Andrade model at ordinary frequencies and the Maxwell model at low frequencies. This development demonstrates that there exist no stable equilibrium states for solid planets and moons, other than spin-orbit resonances.