On the equilibrium rotation of Earth-like extra-solar planets - Archive ouverte HAL Accéder directement au contenu
Article Dans Une Revue Astronomy and Astrophysics - A&A Année : 2008

On the equilibrium rotation of Earth-like extra-solar planets

Résumé

The equilibrium rotation of tidally evolved "Earth-like" extra-solar planets is often assumed to be synchronous with their orbital mean motion. The same assumption persisted for Mercury and Venus until radar observations revealed their true spin rates. As many of these planets follow eccentric orbits and are believed to host dense atmospheres, we expect the equilibrium rotation to differ from the synchronous motion. Here we provide a general description of the allowed final equilibrium rotation states of these planets, and apply this to already discovered cases in which the mass is lower than twelve Earth-masses. At low obliquity and moderate eccentricity, it is shown that there are at most four distinct equilibrium possibilities, one of which can be retrograde. Because most presently known "Earth-like" planets present eccentric orbits, their equilibrium rotation is unlikely to be synchronous.

Dates et versions

hal-00619469 , version 1 (06-09-2011)

Identifiants

Citer

Alexandre C. M. Correia, Benjamin Levrard, Jacques Laskar. On the equilibrium rotation of Earth-like extra-solar planets. Astronomy and Astrophysics - A&A, 2008, 488 (3), pp.L63 - L66. ⟨10.1051/0004-6361:200810388⟩. ⟨hal-00619469⟩
84 Consultations
0 Téléchargements

Altmetric

Partager

Gmail Facebook X LinkedIn More