The limits of possible values of inclination of Mercury's equator

Abstract

The method of estimation of the limits, containing the equator inclination of a celestial body, had been developed. In this method it is necessary to know the orbital elements and the mass of a celestial body. Another condition is that the axial rotation of a body should be in the resonance with its orbital motion. It has been found that the equator inclinations should have the values between 1 ‡.7 and 2 ‡.6 for Mercury and between 1 ‡.0 and 1 ‡.8 for the Moon. It also has been found that largest harmonics in Mercury's physical libration are the harmonics sin(Φ - 3 g), cos(Φ - 3 g), sin g and sin 2Ω. © 1992 Kluwer Academic Publishers.