| Lecture | ![]() |
| Tidal Forces and Tidal Heating
|
From:
zebu.uregon.edu/~soper/Moon/tidalforces.html
![]() | ![]() |
|---|---|
| Condition 1: Must have a massive center planet
Condition 2: Must have a moon orbiting close to that massive planet. Condition 3: Must have an orbital resonance with an outer moon |
Outer moon pulls inner moon into an eccentric orbit since outer moon will "see" the inner moon in the same place every 2 orbits of the inner moon (in this case) |
![]() | ![]() |
| Distance from masive planet changes becasue the outer moon pulls the inner moon out of a circular orbit. | An exaggerated view of the "kneading" of a planet undergoing tidal heating due to changes in the tidal force it feels. |
| Stolen from Toby Smith, Astronomy 150 | |
Is tidal heating occurring?
So, why isn't our Moon undergoing tidal
heating? Which criteria are not being satisfied?
Mars has two moons: an inner moon Phobos and an outer moon Deimos. Phobos is
not being tidally heated. Which of the above criteria for tidal heating are not
being met (would you guess)?