5 papers
Can radio occultations constrain Uranus or Neptune's internal rotation periods?
Christopher R. Mankovich, Alex B. Akins, Dustin Buccino +2
The shapes of fluid planets bear the signatures of rotational flattening and atmospheric flows. Precise knowledge of their shapes and wind profiles may therefore reveal their inter…
Isolating the gravitational influence of Uranus's winds requires close passages inward of the rings
Christopher R. Mankovich, Marzia Parisi, Damon F. Landau +1
Close orbits by a Uranus Orbiter and Probe (UOP) could be used to deduce Uranus's multipolar gravity field to higher precision and angular degree than the J2 and J4 currently measu…
An Energy Perspective of Core Erosion in Gas Giant Planets
J. R. Fuentes, Christopher R. Mankovich, Ankan Sur
Juno and Cassini have shown that Jupiter and Saturn likely contain extended gradients of heavy elements. Yet, how these gradients can survive over billions of years remains an open…
Setting the Stage for Uranian Seismology from Rings and Radial Velocities
Christopher R. Mankovich, A. James Friedson, Marzia Parisi +6
A Uranus orbiter would be well positioned to detect the planet's free oscillation modes, whose frequencies can resolve questions about Uranus's weakly constrained interior. We calc…
Uranus Study Report: KISS
Mark Hofstadter, Ravit Helled, David J. Stevenson +27
Determining the internal structure of Uranus is a key objective for planetary science. Knowledge of Uranus's bulk composition and the distribution of elements is crucial to underst…