petrushka.googol Posted October 25, 2015 Share Posted October 25, 2015 What causes planetary wobble and does it increase over time ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ophiolite Posted November 1, 2015 Share Posted November 1, 2015 Remnant motions from planetary formation and gravitational interactions with the sun and other bodies. "Wobbles", I understand, tend to behave chaotically. Mars can tilt - and has tilted - far from its present 24 degree axial orientation. The Earth's wobble is constrained by the moon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MigL Posted November 2, 2015 Share Posted November 2, 2015 Can this 'wobble' or oscillation, converge and disappear altogether, or diverge and destroy a planet/moon ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ophiolite Posted November 2, 2015 Share Posted November 2, 2015 Can this 'wobble' or oscillation, converge and disappear altogether, or diverge and destroy a planet/moon ? This is well above my pay grade, but I have read nothing to suggest that the wobble could be destructive in that sense. Further, intuitively the energies involved in "wobbling" are orders of magnitude different from those required to destroy a planet. If my understanding is correct, that these wobbles are chaotic in nature, then there may be periods when the wobble seems to have disappeared, only to re-appear many millions of years later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now