Polar motion of Venus

TL;DR

This paper models Venus's polar motion, including free and forced components, to assess detectability by future orbiters and improve understanding of Venus's interior and atmospheric dynamics.

Contribution

It presents a comprehensive polar motion model for Venus accounting for solar torque, interior and atmospheric effects, and revisits the Chandler frequency, aiding future observational efforts.

Findings

Chandler period estimated between 12,900 and 18,900 years.

Polar wobble causes a surface drift of about 90 meters during EnVision's 4-year mission.

Forced polar motion oscillations of about 20 meters are driven by atmosphere and solar torque.

Abstract

Five Venus missions are under development to study the planet in the next decade, with both NASA's VERITAS and ESA's EnVision featuring a geophysical investigation among their objectives. Their radar and gravity experiments will determine Venus's orientation, enabling analyses of its spin dynamics to infer relevant geophysical and atmospheric properties. This work aims to characterize Venus's polar motion, defined as the motion of its spin axis in a body-fixed frame. We focus on signatures from its interior and atmosphere to support potential detections of polar motion by future orbiters. We developed a polar motion model for a triaxial planet accounting for solar torque, centrifugal and tidal deformations of a viscoelastic mantle, and atmospheric dynamics. Core-mantle coupling effects were analyzed separately, considering a simplified spherical core. We computed the period and damping time of the free motion (i.e., the Chandler wobble) and determined the frequencies and amplitudes of the forced motion. We revisited the Chandler frequency expression. Solar torque is the dominant phenomenon affecting Venus's Chandler frequency, increasing it by a factor of 2.75. Our model predicts a Chandler period in the range [12900 ; 18900] years. The Chandler wobble appears as a linear polar drift of about 90 meters on Venus's surface during EnVision's 4-year primary mission, at the limit of its resolution. We also predict forced polar motion oscillations with an amplitude of about 20 meters, driven by the atmosphere and the solar torque. Compared to the 240 meter spin axis precession occurring in inertial space over this duration, these results suggest that Venus's polar motion could also be detectable by future orbiters. Polar motion should be incorporated into rotation models when anticipating these missions, providing additional constraints on the interior structure of Venus.