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Effect of Enceladus's rapid synchronous spin on interpretation of Cassini gravity
Author(s) -
McKin William B.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1002/2015gl063384
Subject(s) - enceladus , hydrostatic equilibrium , radius , geology , polar , shell (structure) , saturn , hydrostatic pressure , physics , astrobiology , geophysics , astrophysics , materials science , astronomy , planet , mechanics , computer security , computer science , composite material
Enceladus's degree 2 gravity, determined by Cassini, is nominally nonhydrostatic to 3σ ( J 2 / C 22 = 3.38–3.63, as opposed to 10/3). Iess et al. (2014) interpret this in terms of a hydrostatic interior (core) and isostatic (not hydrostatic) floating ice shell. Enceladus's rapid (1.37 d) synchronous spin and tide distorts its shape substantially, though, enough that the predicted hydrostatic J 2 / C 22 is not 10/3 but closer to 3.25. This leads to the following revision to the internal picture of Enceladus, compared with Iess et al.: (1) the satellite's core is somewhat smaller and slightly denser (190 km radius and 2450 kg/m 3 ); (2) the compensation depth (shell thickness) of the global (degree 2) ice shell is ≈ 50 km, rather close to the base of the modeled ice + water layer; and (3) the compensation depth (shell thickness) beneath the South Polar Terrain (from J 3 ) remains shallower (thinner) at ≈ 30 km, independent of but influenced by the degree 2 solution.