I see Steve Allen has already supplied a thorough answer. Interested
individuals might also scrounge through the list archives (http://
rom.usno.navy.mil/archives/leapsecs.html) since the topic has come up
before. In fact, Demetrios Matsakis speculated on solar system wide
timescales even
Rob Seaman scripsit:
I don't have an envelope large enough, but there are various issues
to consider. The Hurtling Moons of Barsoom are much smaller than our
own and should have a negligible tidal breaking effect. (See http://
www.freemars.org/mars/marssys.html, for instance, for their
I referenced this page, but missed the most interesting part of it:
http://www.exo.net/~pauld/physics/tides/tidalevolution.htm
The height of a tidal bulge on a planet is proportional to the
inverse cube of the distance between the planet and the object
causing the tidal bulge. The torque
