The long-period forced librations of Titan

Abstract

AbstractA moon in synchronous rotation has longitudinal librations because of its non-spherical mass distribution and its elliptical orbit around the planet. We study the librations of Titan with periods of 14.7y and 29.5y and include deformation effects and the existence of a subsurface ocean. We take into account the fact that the orbit is not Keplerian and has other periodicities than the main period of orbital motion around Saturn due to perturbations by the Sun, other planets and moons. An orbital theory is used to compute the orbital perturbations due to these other bodies.We numerically evaluate the amplitude of the long-period librations for many interior structure models of Titan constrained by the mass, radius and gravity field. Measurements of the librations may give constraints on the interior structure of the icy satellites.