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Gravitational deformation of small bodies of the solar system: History of the problem and its analytical solution

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Abstract

We consider in retrospect the problem of gravitational deformation of small bodies of the Solar System and the transition observed between small and planetary bodies, which is closely related to the history of concepts of the shape of the solid Earth. It has been shown that these concepts in geology and comparative planetology developed in two main competing directions—thermal and gravitational. We consider an analytical solution for gravitational deformation of a nonequilibrium shape of small solid bodies of the Solar System and show that the linear theory of elasticity can be applied to estimate of the value and distribution of stresses in real small bodies of various composition that have the ultimate strength and yield strength under triaxial gravitational compression. From the performed analysis, it has been found that the value and distribution of stresses depend on the chemical and mineralogical composition of the small bodies and are determined by such main parameters as the mass of a body, its density, size, shape, yield strength, and the Poisson ratio.

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  1. Vernadsky Institute of Geochemistry and Analytical Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, ul. Kosygina 19, Moscow, 119991, Russia

    E. N. Slyuta & S. A. Voropaev

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  1. E. N. Slyuta
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  2. S. A. Voropaev
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Original Russian Text © E.N. Slyuta, S.A. Voropaev, 2015, published in Astronomicheskii Vestnik, 2015, Vol. 49, No. 2, pp. 131–147.

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Slyuta, E.N., Voropaev, S.A. Gravitational deformation of small bodies of the solar system: History of the problem and its analytical solution. Sol Syst Res 49, 123–138 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0038094615010086

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