All articles tagged with #wobble
Scientists are puzzled by a new, unexplained wobble in Titan's atmosphere, which behaves independently of external forces like Saturn's gravity or solar heating, suggesting an unknown process may be at work. This discovery deepens the mystery of Titan's atmospheric behavior and has significant implications for future missions and understanding planetary atmospheres.
Scientists studying Saturn's moon Titan have discovered that its atmospheric tilt behaves like a spinning top, remaining fixed in space despite expectations that it would change due to external forces like Saturn's gravity or solar influence. This unexpected behavior raises new questions about atmospheric physics and has implications for NASA's upcoming Dragonfly mission, as understanding Titan's atmospheric dynamics is crucial for planning its exploration.
The rotation of Earth's inner core is not aligned with the rotation of the mantle, causing a wobble that affects the motion of the poles and the length of days. The misalignment, with a tilt of 0.17 degrees, suggests a slight difference in density between the northwestern hemisphere of the inner core and the rest. Researchers discovered this through the analysis of polar motion and day-length fluctuations, indicating a periodic variation of 8.5 years. The study highlights the complexity of Earth's core-mantle system and its impact on our planet's dynamics.