Publication Date:
2019-06-27
Description:
The solar system is composed of numerous bodies orbiting the sun, and numerous satellites orbiting planets. However, no objects greater than a kilometer in diameter are known to orbit satellites. Theoretical arguments are used to show that most objects orbiting satellites ultimately would be destroyed by tidal interactions. This may explain why such objects have not been observed. These arguments are applied to objects orbiting the moon. The ages and sizes of most of the circular mare basins are compatible with the lifetimes and crater sizes expected for impacts by objects caught in decaying lunar orbits. The morphology of a few circular mare basins (Crisium, Serenitatis, and possibly Imbrium) indicates that they could have been formed by such impacts. Thus, the lunar surface may provide a record of impacts due to objects caught in tidally decaying lunar orbits.
Keywords:
SPACE SCIENCES
Type:
Icarus; 20; Oct. 197
Format:
text
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