Vertical angular momentum constraint on lunar formation and orbital history
Vertical angular momentum constraint on lunar formation and orbital history
复制标题
月球形成和轨道历史的垂直角动量约束
DOI:
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发表时间:
2020
影响因子:
11.1
通讯作者:
J. Wisdom
中科院分区:
文献类型:
--
作者:
Z. Tian;J. Wisdom
Significance There are various scenarios for the formation of the Moon and subsequent dynamical evolution of the Earth–Moon system, all of which are subject to a constraint that has not previously been fully exploited. Using this constraint, we demonstrate that the recently proposed high-obliquity scenario is not consistent with the present Earth–Moon system. This constraint will have to be taken into account in all future investigations of the formation and evolution of the Moon. The Moon likely formed in a giant impact that left behind a fast-rotating Earth, but the details are still uncertain. Here, we examine the implications of a constraint that has not been fully exploited: The component of the Earth–Moon system’s angular momentum that is perpendicular to the Earth’s orbital plane is nearly conserved in Earth–Moon history, except for possible intervals when the lunar orbit is in resonance with the Earth’s motion about the Sun. This condition sharply constrains the postimpact Earth orientation and the subsequent lunar orbital history. In particular, the scenario involving an initial high-obliquity Earth cannot produce the present Earth–Moon system. A low-obliquity postimpact Earth followed by the evection limit cycle in orbital evolution remains a possible pathway for producing the present angular momentum and observed lunar composition.