Gravity results are available from radio Doppler data acquired by the Deep Space Network during the encounter of the Cassini spacecraft with Enceladus in February 2005. We report the mass of Enceladus to be (1.0798±0.0016)× 10^20 kg, which implies a density of 1608.9±4kg*m^−3. For a core made of hydrated silicates with a density of 2500kg*m^−3 the core radius is about 190 km and the quadrupole moment C22 = 1.4×10^−3. If Enceladus is in hydrostatic equilibrium, the larger than previously anticipated density implies that the recently proposed secondary spin–orbit resonance cannot be present. Therefore, the source of endogenic activity of Enceladus remains unexplained.
N. J. Rappaport, L. Iess, P. Tortora, A. Anabtawi, S. W. Asmar, L. Somenzi, et al. (2007). Mass and interior of Enceladus from Cassini data analysis. ICARUS, 190, 175-178 [10.1016/j.icarus.2007.03.025].
Mass and interior of Enceladus from Cassini data analysis
TORTORA, PAOLO;
2007
Abstract
Gravity results are available from radio Doppler data acquired by the Deep Space Network during the encounter of the Cassini spacecraft with Enceladus in February 2005. We report the mass of Enceladus to be (1.0798±0.0016)× 10^20 kg, which implies a density of 1608.9±4kg*m^−3. For a core made of hydrated silicates with a density of 2500kg*m^−3 the core radius is about 190 km and the quadrupole moment C22 = 1.4×10^−3. If Enceladus is in hydrostatic equilibrium, the larger than previously anticipated density implies that the recently proposed secondary spin–orbit resonance cannot be present. Therefore, the source of endogenic activity of Enceladus remains unexplained.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
