Satellite formation. II

Abstract

A satellite formation model is extended to include evolution of planetary ring material and elliptic orbital motion. In this model the formation of the moon begins at a later time in the growth of the earth, and a significant fraction of the lunar material is processed through a circumterrestrial debris cloud where volatiles might have been lost. Thus, the chemical differences between the earth and moon are more plausibly accounted for. Satellites of the outer planets probably formed in large numbers throughout the growth of those planets. Because of rapid inward evolution of the orbits of small satellites, the present satellite systems represent only satellites formed in the last few percent of the growths of their primaries. The rings of Saturn and Uranus are most plausibly explained as the debris of satellites disrupted within the Roche limit. Because such a ring would collapse onto the planet in the course of any significant further accretion by the planet, the rings must have formed very near or even after the conclusion of accretion.