On a ring origin of the equatorial ridge of Iapetus |
On a ring origin of the equatorial ridge of Iapetus |
Guest_AlexBlackwell_* |
Aug 29 2006, 06:18 PM
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Guests |
Wing Ip just had an interesting Iapetus-related paper published in GRL.
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Sep 8 2006, 02:52 PM
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Member Group: Members Posts: 903 Joined: 30-January 05 Member No.: 162 |
Virtually all solar system objects are believed to have formed with rotation rates around 10 hours, IIRC. Iapetus, uniquely distant from its' primary compared to the other major moons of our solar sytem, would have taken longest of all to spin down to tide lock with its' primary (Saturn). Ample time existed for the original congenital oblateness of Iapetus to have 'frozen' in place upon the completion of Iapetus' accretion.
I consider Iapetus to be sufficiently oblate from theoretical grounds alone to accomplish the needed collapse to the Laplacian Plane of the inclined debris cloud. (Hopefully Cassini will shore up the wobbly limb I am on here) |
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