Physics
Scientific paper
Dec 2006
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006agufm.p41c1284a&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2006, abstract #P41C-1284
Physics
1221 Lunar And Planetary Geodesy And Gravity (5417, 5450, 5714, 5744, 6019, 5714 Gravitational Fields (1221), 5724 Interiors (8147), 6220 Jupiter, 6275 Saturn
Scientific paper
The orbiting Cassini spacecraft can be used as a sensitive probe of Saturn's gravity field. Four periapsis passes in May and June 2005 provide practically all the information on the even zonal harmonics from the Cassini mission so far, and they also provide a substantial improvement over earlier results from Pioneer and Voyager flybys. In units of 10-6, the improved results are J2 = 16290.71 ± 0.27, J4 = -935.8 ± 2.8, J6 = 86.1 ± 9.6, for a reference radius of 60,330 km. We show that this improved gravity data can be fit by a simple model of the planet's interior consisting of an ice/rock/metal core of about three Earth masses surrounded by a homogeneous compressible polytropic envelope with two free parameters. By applying the same techniques to Jupiter, we find that a polytropic model fits the gravity data with no core at all, as pointed out by W. B. Hubbard over thirty years ago. These two empirical models present problems for the theory that suggests giant planets form by first building up a critical core of about 10 Earth masses, and subsequently accrete their hydrogen/helium envelopes.
Anderson John D.
Schubert Gerald
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