The low-degree shape of Mercury

Perry, M. E. and Neumann, G. A. and Phillips, R. J. and Barnouin, O. S. and Ernst, C. M. and Kahan, D.S. and Solomon, S.C. and Zuber, M.T. and Smith, D.E. and Hauck, S. A. and Peale, S. J. and Margot, J.-L. and Mazarico, E. and Johnson, C. L. and Gaskell, R. W. and Roberts, J. H. and McNutt, R. L. and Oberst, J. (2015) The low-degree shape of Mercury. Geophysical Research Letters, 42 (17), pp. 6951-6958. Wiley. doi: 10.1002/2015GL065101. ISSN 0094-8276.

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Official URL: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/grl.52051/pdf

Abstract

The shape of Mercury, particularly when combined with its geoid, provides clues to the planet's internal structure, thermal evolution, and rotational history. Elevation measurements of the northern hemisphere acquired by the Mercury Laser Altimeter on the MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging spacecraft, combined with 378 occultations of radio signals from the spacecraft in the planet's southern hemisphere, reveal the low-degree shape of Mercury. Mercury's mean radius is 2439.36 \plusmn 0.02 km, and there is a 0.14 km offset between the planet's centers of mass and figure. Mercury is oblate, with a polar radius 1.65 km less than the mean equatorial radius. The difference between the semimajor and semiminor equatorial axes is 1.25 km, with the long axis oriented 15ẹg west of Mercury's dynamically defined principal axis. Mercury's geoid is also oblate and elongated, but it deviates from a sphere by a factor of 10 less than Mercury's shape, implying compensation of elevation variations on a global scale.

Item URL in elib:

https://elib.dlr.de/101070/

Document Type:

Article

Title:

The low-degree shape of Mercury

Authors:

Authors	Institution or Email of Authors	Author's ORCID iD	ORCID Put Code
Perry, M. E.	Planetary Exploration Group, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD 21044	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Neumann, G. A.	NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Phillips, R. J.	Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO 80302	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Barnouin, O. S.	Planetary Exploration Group, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD 21044	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Ernst, C. M.	Planetary Exploration Group, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD 21044	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Kahan, D.S.	Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA 91109	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Solomon, S.C.	Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, DC, USA	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Zuber, M.T.	Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307, USA	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Smith, D.E.	Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02129	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Hauck, S. A.	Department of Geological Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Peale, S. J.	University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Margot, J.-L.	Department of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Mazarico, E.	NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Johnson, C. L.	Dept. of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Gaskell, R. W.	PSI, Tucson, Arizona,	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Roberts, J. H.	The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Maryland, USA	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
McNutt, R. L.	Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD 20723-6099	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Oberst, J.	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED

Date:

12 September 2015

Journal or Publication Title:

Geophysical Research Letters

Refereed publication:

Yes

Open Access:

Gold Open Access:

In SCOPUS:

Yes

In ISI Web of Science:

Yes

Volume:

DOI:

10.1002/2015GL065101

Page Range:

pp. 6951-6958

Publisher:

Wiley

ISSN:

0094-8276

Status:

Published

Keywords:

Mercury, occultation, shape, altimetry

HGF - Research field:

Aeronautics, Space and Transport

HGF - Program:

Space

HGF - Program Themes:

Space Exploration

DLR - Research area:

Raumfahrt

DLR - Program:

R EW - Space Exploration

DLR - Research theme (Project):

R - Exploration of the Solar System

Location:

Berlin-Adlershof

Institutes and Institutions:

Institute of Planetary Research > Planetary Geodesy

Deposited By:

Wählisch, Marita

Deposited On:

07 Jan 2016 08:14

Last Modified:

08 Mar 2018 18:29

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