Unravelling tidal dissipation in gaseous giant planets

Abstract

Tidal dissipation in planetary interiors is one of the key physical mechanisms that drive the evolution of star-planet and planet-moon systems. New constraints are now obtained both in the Solar and exoplanetary systems. Tidal dissipation in planets is intrinsically related to their internal structure. In particular, fluid and solid layers behave differently under tidal forcing. Therefore, their respective dissipation reservoirs have to be compared. In this letter, we compute separately the contributions of the potential dense rocky/icy core and the convective fluid envelope of gaseous giant planets, as a function of core size and mass. We then compare the associated dissipation reservoirs, by evaluating the frequency-average of the imaginary part of the Love numbers $k_2^2$ in each region. In the case of Jupiter and Saturn-like planets, we show that the viscoelastic dissipation in the core could dominate the turbulent friction acting on tidal inertial waves in the envelope. However, the fluid dissipation would not be negligible. This demonstrates that it is necessary to build complete models of tidal dissipation in planetary interiors from their deep interior to their surface without any arbitrary a-priori.

4 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in A&A as a Letter

Cited by in corpus (18)

• Deformation and tidal evolution of close-in planets and satellites using a Maxwell viscoelastic rheology
• A Hot Saturn Orbiting An Oscillating Late Subgiant Discovered by TESS
• The Habitable-zone Planet Finder Reveals A High Mass and a Low Obliquity for the Young Neptune K2-25b
• Assessing magnetic torques and energy fluxes in close-in star-planet systems
• Tidal dissipation in rotating fluid bodies: the presence of a magnetic field
• The surface signature of the tidal dissipation of the core in a two-layer planet
• Layered semi-convection and tides in giant planet interiors - II. Tidal dissipation
• Spin dynamics of close-in planets exhibiting large TTVs
• Cronomoons: origin, dynamics, and light-curve features of ringed exomoons
• Measuring Tidal Dissipation in Giant Planets from Tidal Circularization
• Exomoons in Systems with a Strong Perturber: Applications to $\alpha$ Cen AB
• How Cassini Can Constrain Tidal Dissipation in Saturn
• Frequency-dependent tidal dissipation in a viscoelastic Saturnian core and expansion of Mimas' semi-major axis
• The unusual M-dwarf Warm Jupiter TOI-1899~b: Refinement of orbital and planetary parameters
• Tidally-induced migration of TESS gas giants orbiting M dwarfs
• The "Drake equation" of exomoons -- a cascade of formation, stability and detection
• The Dynamics of Co-orbital Giant Exomoons -- Applications for the Kepler-1625 b and Kepler-1708 b Satellite Systems
• Survival of satellites during the migration of a Hot Jupiter