Origin of the lunar inclination from tidal interaction of multiple-moon system
Fuente:
arXiv
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| Formato: | Preprint |
| Publicado: |
2025
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| _version_ | 1866911554575794176 |
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| author | Liu, Wenshuai |
| author_facet | Liu, Wenshuai |
| contents | According to the giant impact theory, the Moon formed through accreting the debris disk produced by a collision between Theia and the proto-Earth, and the predicted lunar orbital inclination relative to the Earth's equatorial plane is about within one degree when Moon formed. However, the current lunar orbital inclination with five degrees relative to the Earth's orbital plane requires the Moon's orbital inclination relative to the Earth's equator to be about ten degrees when traced back to the time of lunar formation. Since two moons are also a natural outcome of simulations of lunar formation from a protolunar disk produced by a giant impact, here we show that, under solar perturbation, gravitational tidal interaction between Earth and its two moons with negligible orbital inclination relative to Earth's equatorial plane could lead to a merger of one moon with Earth, or a merger of the two moons or an ejection of one moon, resulting that the surviving moon's orbital inclination relative to Earth's equator could exceed ten degrees. The theory proposed here may provide a way of explaining the initial large lunar inclination relative to the Earth's equator. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2502_18837 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Origin of the lunar inclination from tidal interaction of multiple-moon system Liu, Wenshuai Earth and Planetary Astrophysics High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena According to the giant impact theory, the Moon formed through accreting the debris disk produced by a collision between Theia and the proto-Earth, and the predicted lunar orbital inclination relative to the Earth's equatorial plane is about within one degree when Moon formed. However, the current lunar orbital inclination with five degrees relative to the Earth's orbital plane requires the Moon's orbital inclination relative to the Earth's equator to be about ten degrees when traced back to the time of lunar formation. Since two moons are also a natural outcome of simulations of lunar formation from a protolunar disk produced by a giant impact, here we show that, under solar perturbation, gravitational tidal interaction between Earth and its two moons with negligible orbital inclination relative to Earth's equatorial plane could lead to a merger of one moon with Earth, or a merger of the two moons or an ejection of one moon, resulting that the surviving moon's orbital inclination relative to Earth's equator could exceed ten degrees. The theory proposed here may provide a way of explaining the initial large lunar inclination relative to the Earth's equator. |
| title | Origin of the lunar inclination from tidal interaction of multiple-moon system |
| topic | Earth and Planetary Astrophysics High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2502.18837 |