Category:
Research Papers
Sub-Category:
Astrophysics
Date Published:
July 21, 2017
Keywords:
Mercury, tidal locking, gravitational locking, Moon
Abstract:
The so called tidal gravitational locking of gravitationally interacting bodies is a consequence of their mass asymmetry that provokes asymmetry of their gravitational properties. If a central body and its satellite body are tidally gravitationally locked and if the central body’s mass is sufficiently symmetric, which is the case of Earth-Moon locking, the central body’s rotation about its own rotation axis occurs with a velocity independent of that of the satellite body. If a central body and its satellite body are tidally gravitationally locked and if the central body’s mass is gravitationally asymmetric, which is the case of Sun-Mercury locking, the central body’s rotation velocity about its own rotation axis coordinates with that of the satellite body. The Sun’s as a physical body rotation period about its rotation axis is 29.323 terrestrial days. Contrary to the officially accepted tidal gravitational locking ratio 3:2 between axial and orbital Mercury’s velocities, the accounting for the Sun’s axial rotation testifies that de facto the locking occurs, as in the most of known cases with the 1:1 ratio.
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