Compositions and Interior Structures of the Large Moons of Uranus and Implications for Future Spacecraft Observations
Name
JGR Planets - 2022 - Castillo‐Rogez - Compositions and Interior Structures of the Large Moons of Uranus and Implications.pdf
Description
Published version
Size
5.32 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
b5095b402daea8a9474728524980157b
Author(s)
Castillo‐Rogez, Julie
Weiss, Benjamin
Beddingfield, Chloe
Biersteker, John
Cartwright, Richard
Goode, Allison
Melwani Daswani, Mohit
Neveu, Marc
Date Issued
December 22, 2022
Journal
Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets
Publisher
American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Citation
Castillo-Rogez, J., Weiss, B., Beddingfield, C., Biersteker, J., Cartwright, R., Goode, A., et al. (2023). Compositions and interior structures of the large moons of Uranus and implications for future spacecraft observations. Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, 128, e2022JE007432.
Version
Final published version
Abstract
The five large moons of Uranus are important targets for future spacecraft missions. To motivate
and inform the exploration of these moons, we model their internal evolution, present-day physical structures,
and geochemical and geophysical signatures that may be measured by spacecraft. We predict that if the moons
preserved liquid until present, it is likely in the form of residual oceans less than 30 km thick in Ariel, Umbriel,
and less than 50 km in Titania, and Oberon. The preservation of liquid strongly depends on material properties
and, potentially, on dynamical circumstances that are presently unknown. Miranda is unlikely to host liquid at
present unless it experienced tidal heating a few tens of million years ago. We find that since the thin residual
layers may be hypersaline, their induced magnetic fields could be detectable by future spacecraft-based
magnetometers. However, if the ocean is maintained primarily by ammonia, and thus well below the water
freezing point, then its electrical conductivity may be too small to be detectable by spacecraft. Lastly, our
calculated tidal Love number (k2) and dissipation factor (Q) are consistent with the Q/k2 values previously
inferred from dynamical evolution models. In particular, we find that the low Q/k2 estimated for Titania
supports the hypothesis that Titania currently holds an ocean.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
10.1029/2022je007432
