Titan's rotation: A 3-dimensional theory

Abstract

We study the forced rotation of Titan seen as a rigid body at the equilibrium Cassini state, involving the spin-orbit synchronization. We used both the analytical and the numerical ways. We analytically determined the equilibrium positions and the frequencies of the 3 free librations around it, while a numerical integration associated to frequency analysis gave us a more synthetic, complete theory, where the free solution split from the forced one. We find a mean obliquity of 2.2 arcmin and the fundamental frequencies of the free librations of about 2.0977, 167.4883, and 306.3360 years. Moreover, we bring out the main role played by Titan's inclination on its rotation, and we suspect a likely resonance involving Titan's wobble.

accepted for publication in Astronomy ans Astrophysics

References in corpus (1)

• Theory of the Mercury's spin-orbit motion and analysis of its main librations

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