We reexamine the popular belief that a telluric planet or satellite on aneccentric orbit can, outside a spin-orbit resonance, be captured in aquasi-static tidal equilibrium called pseudosynchronous rotation. The existenceof such configurations was deduced from oversimplified tidal models assumingeither a constant tidal torque or a torque linear in the tidal frequency. Amore accurate treatment requires that the torque be decomposed into theDarwin-Kaula series over the tidal modes, and that this decomposition becombined with a realistic choice of rheological properties of the mantle. Thisdevelopment demonstrates that there exist no stable equilibrium states forsolid planets and moons, other than spin-orbit resonances.
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