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Dynamics of Distant Moons of Asteroids

solar perturbations dominate. Since the detailed mass distribution within the asteroid is relatively unimportant in We introduce a new analytic method for treating the orbital motions of objects about asteroids and planets. For an asteroid this regime, orbits about one asteroid are similar to those following a circular path around the Sun, we rewrite Jacobi’s about another as long as the eccent...

The Authors’ Reply

Microrheology with modulated optical nanoprobes (MOONs)

Metal-capping of one hemisphere of a nano or microparticle breaks the particle’s optical symmetry, allowing its orientation to be tracked using fluorescence and reflection. Tracking orientation and rotation allows the torques acting on the particles be inferred. In addition to serving as rotational nanoviscometers these probes report on local Brownian, magnetic and biomechanical torques. r 2005...

Elliptical instability in terrestrial planets and moons

Context. The presence of celestial companions means that any planet may be subject to three kinds of harmonic mechanical forcing: tides, precession/nutation, and libration. These forcings can generate flows in internal fluid layers, such as fluid cores and subsurface oceans, whose dynamics then significantly differ from solid body rotation. In particular, tides in non-synchronized bodies and li...