Geometry of Stable Capture Zones for Planets Earth and Venus: Implications for Pathways of Planet Evolution

Details Geometry of Stable Capture Zones for Planets Earth and Venus: Implications for Pathways of Planet Evolution Geometry of Stable Capture Zones for Planets Earth and Venus: Implications for Pathways of Planet Evolution

May 2004

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2004agusm.p33d..01m&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Spring Meeting 2004, abstract #P33D-01

Mathematics

Logic

5455 Origin And Evolution, 6207 Comparative Planetology

Scientific paper

The sister planets, Venus and Earth, have greatly contrasting environmental surface conditions. Earth has conditions that were conducive to the development of a thriving biological system while Venus has surface conditions that do not permit life. The theme explored here is that gravitationally captured satellites can make a tremendous difference in the evolutionary pathway of a terrestrial planet. During the past few years we have been able to demonstrate that whole-body (gravitational) capture of a lunar-mass body is physically possible in a coplanar, three-body context. We use a fourth-order Runge-Kutta integration code with a subroutine that simulates energy dissipation within the interacting bodies within 20 planet radii. Mapping of two-dimensional, coplanar parameter space in the region of the orbits of planets Venus and Earth has led to the identification of two retrograde (clockwise motion) and two prograde (counterclockwise motion) zones for capture orientations for both planet-planetoid combinations. The parameters mapped are planet anomaly (position of the planet at the beginning of the encounter simulation) and planetoid orbital eccentricity (relative to a circular orbit for the planet). The post-capture history of a terrestrial planet is largely determined by the direction of capture. Retrograde capture, after post-capture orbit circularization, results in a progressive DECREASE in the size of a circular planetoid orbit and a concomitant decrease in the prograde rotation rate of the planet. In contrast, prograde capture, after post-capture orbit circularization, results in a progressive INCREASE in the size of the circular planetoid orbit and a concomitant decrease in the prograde rotation rate of the planet. Thus, the mode of capture can leave a major imprint on the evolutionary history of a terrestrial planet.

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