Axial Tilt - Other Objects of The Solar System

Other Objects of The Solar System

All four of the innermost, rocky planets of the Solar System may have had large variations of their obliquity in the past. Like Earth, all of the rocky planets have a small precessional rotation of their spin axis. This rate varies due to, among other things, tidal dissipation and core-mantle interaction. When each planet reaches certain values of precession, orbital resonances may cause very large, chaotic changes in obliquity. Mercury and Venus have most likely been stabilized by the tidal dissipation of the Sun. The Earth was stabilized by the Moon, as above, but before its capture, the Earth, too, could have passed through times of instability. Mars' obliquity is currently in a chaotic state; it varies as much as 0° to 60° over some millions of years, depending on perturbations of the planets. The obliquities of the outer planets are considered relatively stable. Some authors dispute that Mars' obliquity is chaotic, and show that tidal dissipation and viscous core-mantle coupling are adequate for it to have reached a fully damped state, similar to Mercury and Venus.

Axis and rotation of selected Solar System objects
NASA, J2000.0 IAU, 0 Jan 2010, 0h TT
Axial tilt North Pole Rotation Axial tilt North Pole Rotation
( ° ) R.A. ( ° ) Dec. ( ° ) ( hours ) ( ° ) R.A. ( ° ) Dec. ( ° ) ( ° / day )
Sun 7.25 286.13 63.87 609.12B 7.25A 286.15 63.89 14.18
Mercury ~0 281.01 61.45 1407.6 0.01 281.01 61.45 6.14
VenusE 177.36 (92.76) (-67.16) (5832.5) 2.64 272.76 67.16 -1.48
Earth 23.4 0.00 90.00 23.93 23.4 undef. 90.00 359.02
Moon 6.68 655.73 1.54C
Mars 25.19 317.68 52.89 24.62 25.19 317.67 52.88 350.89
Jupiter 3.13 268.05 64.49 9.93D 3.12 268.06 64.50 870.54D
Saturn 26.73 40.60 83.54 10.66D 26.73 40.59 83.54 810.79D
UranusE 97.77 (77.43) (15.10) (17.24)D 82.23 257.31 -15.18 -501.16D
Neptune 28.32 299.36 43.46 16.11D 28.33 299.40 42.95 536.31D
PlutoE 122.53 (133.02) (-9.09) (153.29) 60.41 312.99 6.16 -56.36
A with respect to the ecliptic of 1850
B at 16° latitude; the Sun's rotation varies with latitude
C with respect to the ecliptic; the Moon's orbit is inclined 5°.16 to the ecliptic
D from the origin of the radio emissions; the visible clouds generally rotate at different rate
E NASA's listed tilt is inconsistent with their listed north pole and rotation for these planets; values in (parenthesis) have been reinterpreted to match their listed tilt

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