Prograde and retrograde atmospheric rotation of cloud-covered terrestrial planets

Atmospheric Evolution of Terrestrial Planets and Satellites

The evolution of planetary atmospheres and their water inventories are strongly related to the evolution of the solar radiation and plasma environment, which was much more active when the young Sun arrived at the Zero-Age-Main-Sequence. After formation of the terrestrial planets and their early atmospheres, due to the active young Sun and large impacts, heavy species and their isotopes were mos...

Atmospheric Escape and Evolution of Terrestrial Planets and Satellites

The origin and evolution of Venus’, Earth’s, Mars’ and Titan’s atmospheres are discussed from the time when the active young Sun arrived at the Zero-Age-Main-Sequence. We show that the high EUV flux of the young Sun, depending on the thermospheric composition, the amount of IR-coolers and the mass and size of the planet, could have been responsible that hydrostatic equilibrium was not always ma...

No Pseudosynchronous Rotation for Terrestrial Planets and Moons

We re-examine the popular belief that a telluric planet or a satellite on an eccentric orbit can, outside a spin–orbit resonance, be captured in a quasi-static tidal equilibrium called pseudosynchronous rotation. The existence of such configurations was deduced from oversimplified tidal models assuming either a constant tidal torque or a torque linear in the tidal frequency. A more accurate tre...

Retrograde versus Prograde Models of Accreting Black Holes

Building Terrestrial Planets

This article reviews our current understanding of terrestrial planet formation. The focus is on computer simulations of the dynamical aspects of the accretion process. Throughout the review, we combine the results of these theoretical models with geochemical, cosmochemical, and chronological constraints to outline a comprehensive scenario of the early evolution of our solar system. Given that t...