Schedule Mar 18, 2004
OBLIQUITIES OF THE GAS GIANTS
William Ward (Southwest Research Institute)

Jupiter and Saturn have obliquities of ~3 and ~27 degrees, respectively. We offer an explanation of this puzzling difference involving a secular spin orbit resonance between Saturn and Neptune. Jupiter is very close to a similar resonance with Uranus, and we discuss dynamical histories of Jupiter that could account for the preservation of its small obliquity.

Begin WebCam and audio for the whole talk: high bandwidth or medium bandwidth.
Or, begin audio only for the whole talk: high bandwidth or low bandwidth. (Or, right-click to download the whole audio file.)

Begin QuickTime of the whole talk (high bandwidth).

Author entry (protected)