Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Mar 1978
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1978ssrv...21..527n&link_type=abstract
Space Science Reviews, vol. 21, Mar. 1978, p. 527-553.
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
13
Mercury (Planet), Planetary Evolution, Planetary Magnetic Fields, Planetary Magnetospheres, Planetary Structure, Radar Astronomy, Celestial Mechanics, Cratering, Mariner 10 Space Probe, Orbital Resonances (Celestial Mechanics), Planetary Atmospheres, Planetary Cores, Planetary Rotation, Thermal Environments, Mercury, Terrestrial Planets, Interior, Magnetic Fields, Core, Rotation, Orbits, Surface, Magnetosphere, Atmosphere, Mariner 10, Radar, Thermal History, Evolution
Scientific paper
Present-day knowledge about the planetary magnetic field and interior of Mercury is reviewed. Radar observations are discussed which delineated the correct rotation rate of Mercury (58.646 days) and the planet's 3:2 spin-orbit resonance. The data obtained in Mariner 10 magnetic-field observations during the first and third encounters with Mercury are examined in detail, and theoretical studies of the planet's interior are summarized, including both steady-state models and those describing the thermal evolution of the planet. Two possible source mechanisms for the observed intrinsic planetary magnetic field are evaluated: an active dynamo and a passive paleomagnetic field frozen into the planet's outer layers at an earlier epoch. It is noted that neither the available magnetic-field data nor models of the planetary interior permit one to distinguish uniquely between the two mechanisms. The spin-orbit commensurability of Mercury is explained in the framework of the solar tides induced in the body of the planet, a nonaxisymmetric moment of inertia, and the highly eccentric orbit of the planet.
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