Geodetic analysis of radio tracking measurements of the MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging spacecraft while in orbit about Mercury has yielded new estimates for the planet's gravity field, tidal Love number, and pole coordinates. The derived right ascension (α = 281.0082° ± 0.0009°; all uncertainties are 3 standard deviations) and declination (δ = 61.4164° ± 0.0003°) of the spin pole place Mercury in the Cassini state. Confirmation of the equilibrium state with an estimated mean (whole planet) obliquity ϵ of 1.968 ± 0.027 arcmin enables the confident determination of the planet's normalized polar moment of inertia (0.333 ± 0.005), which indicates a high degree of internal differentiation. Internal structure models generated by a Markov Chain Monte Carlo process and consistent with the geodetic constraints possess a solid inner core with a radius (r ic ) between 0.3 and 0.7 that of the outer core (r oc ).

Geodetic evidence that mercury has a solid inner core / Genova, Antonio; Goossens, Sander; Mazarico, Erwan; Lemoine, Frank G.; Neumann, Gregory A.; Kuang, Weijia; Sabaka, Terence J.; Hauck, Steven A.; Smith, David E.; Solomon, Sean C.; Zuber, Maria T.. - In: GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS. - ISSN 0094-8276. - 46:7(2019), pp. 3625-3633. [10.1029/2018GL081135]

Geodetic evidence that mercury has a solid inner core

Genova, Antonio
;
2019

Abstract

Geodetic analysis of radio tracking measurements of the MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging spacecraft while in orbit about Mercury has yielded new estimates for the planet's gravity field, tidal Love number, and pole coordinates. The derived right ascension (α = 281.0082° ± 0.0009°; all uncertainties are 3 standard deviations) and declination (δ = 61.4164° ± 0.0003°) of the spin pole place Mercury in the Cassini state. Confirmation of the equilibrium state with an estimated mean (whole planet) obliquity ϵ of 1.968 ± 0.027 arcmin enables the confident determination of the planet's normalized polar moment of inertia (0.333 ± 0.005), which indicates a high degree of internal differentiation. Internal structure models generated by a Markov Chain Monte Carlo process and consistent with the geodetic constraints possess a solid inner core with a radius (r ic ) between 0.3 and 0.7 that of the outer core (r oc ).
2019
gravity; Mercury; orientation; radio science; solid inner core; geophysics; earth and planetary sciences (all)
01 Pubblicazione su rivista::01a Articolo in rivista
Geodetic evidence that mercury has a solid inner core / Genova, Antonio; Goossens, Sander; Mazarico, Erwan; Lemoine, Frank G.; Neumann, Gregory A.; Kuang, Weijia; Sabaka, Terence J.; Hauck, Steven A.; Smith, David E.; Solomon, Sean C.; Zuber, Maria T.. - In: GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS. - ISSN 0094-8276. - 46:7(2019), pp. 3625-3633. [10.1029/2018GL081135]
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11573/1268966
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