Rhea's Gravitational Field and Interior Structure Inferred from Archival Data Files of the 2005 Cassini Flyby

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy

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Scientific paper

There are three published gravitational fields for Rhea, and they all differ significantly. We conclude that this difference is caused by systematic error in the Cassini radio Doppler data used in the analysis. All three published fields fit the systematically corrupted data equally well. However, by restricting the data in the fit to a shorter interval surrounding the closest approach to Rhea, this systematic error can be eliminated and a reliable unbiased estimate for Rhea's quadrupole gravitational field is obtained. With this approach, and under the assumption that Rhea is in hydrostatic equilibrium (HE), our earlier conclusions about Rhea's internal structure are confirmed. Rhea is an undifferentiated satellite made up of about 25% rock-metal and 75% water ice by mass. Any assertions that Rhea is not in HE are not supported by the data.

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