Origin of the Difference Architectures of the Jovian and Saturnian Satellite Systems

Details Origin of the Difference Architectures of the Jovian and Saturnian Satellite Systems Origin of the Difference Architectures of the Jovian and Saturnian Satellite Systems

Sep 2009

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009dps....41.5207s&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #41, #52.07

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Scientific paper

The Jovian satellite system mainly consists of four Galilean satellites, where the inner two satellites are rocky and outer two are icy, and only the outermost one is compositionally undifferentiated. They have similar masses and are trapped in mutual mean motion resonances. On the other hand, the Saturnian satellite system has only one big icy body, Titan, and the other satellites have masses that are two orders of magnitude smaller. A dynamical mechanism has been proposed for a universal ratio of the total mass of satellites relative to their host planet's mass for Jupiter and Saturn. However, the pronounced difference between the Jovian and Saturnian satellite systems has been a mystery. Here we explain the origin of the difference by simulating growth and orbital evolution of proto-satellites in an accreting proto-satellite disk model that is combined with the idea of different termination timescales of gas infall between Jupiter and Saturn based on a planet formation model. We show that in the case of the Jovian system, a few similar-mass satellites are likely to remain in mean motion resonances, the configuration of which is formed by type I migration, temporal stopping of the migration near the disk inner edge, and quick truncation of gas infall by gap opening in the Solar nebula. The Saturnian system tends to end up with one dominant body in the outer regions caused by the slower decay of gas infall associated with global depletion of the Solar nebula. The compositional zoning of the predicted satellite systems is consistent with the observed satellite systems. This work was supported by JSPS Research Fellowship, and G. R. Stewart was supported by NASA's Outer Planet Research Program.

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