Titan's spin state as a constraint on tidal dissipation.

ABSTRACT: Tidal dissipation in satellites affects their orbital and rotational evolution and their ability to maintain subsurface oceans. However, a satellite's dissipation rate, parameterized by k₂/Q, is hard to measure and is only known for the Moon and Io. Here, we use Titan's measured departure from its expected rotation state to infer k₂/Q and its boundary layer dissipation parameter K/C_s. Over the likely range of ocean and ice shell thicknesses, we infer a K/C_s of 6.3 × 10^-14 s^-1 to 2.4 × 10^-10 s^-1, a k₂/Q of 0.058 to 0.12, and a minimum dissipation factor Q ≈ 5. Titan's dissipation parameters are one to two orders of magnitude

SUBMITTER: Downey BG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11797539 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature