Premium
Venusian k 2 tidal Love number from Magellan and PVO tracking data
Author(s) -
Konopliv A. S.,
Yoder C. F.
Publication year - 1996
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 - 10.1029/96gl01589
Subject(s) - venus , orbiter , doppler effect , tracking (education) , spacecraft , geodesy , geology , physics , atmosphere of venus , range (aeronautics) , astrobiology , astronomy , materials science , psychology , pedagogy , composite material
The k 2 potential Love number which scales the tidal deformation of Venus by the Sun has been estimated from Doppler tracking of Magellan and Pioneer Venus Orbiter (PVO) spacecraft data. The nominal range for k 2 from theoretical models is 0.23 ≤ k 2 ≤ 0.29 for a liquid iron core and about 0.17 if the iron core has solidified. Our best estimate of this parameter is k 2 = 0.295±0.066(2× formal σ) and supports the hypothesis that Venus core is liquid.