At 02:57 PM 10/11/2006, Rob McCafferty wrote:
If log angular momentum is plotted vs log Mass, all planets fit nicely on a line except Venus and Mercury (Earth/moon system needs to be combined). Now since angular momentum is a conserved quantity, it matters not one jot how far a planet and its moon drift apart. Combine the angular momentum of Venus and Mercury and they slot nicely on the line like all the others. If some accuse me of favouring an idea which is too neat, I'd accuse the author of this article of this article of over-thinking a problem. The peculiar rotation of venus is rather nicely explained by it losing a moon, especially one as big as Mercury.
I believe the late Robert Harrington (d. 1993) of the U. S. Naval Observatory proposed many years ago that Mercury was an escaped moon of Venus. I don't have the reference to hand, but it shouldn't be too hard to find.
-- Philip R. "Pib" Burns [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.pibburns.com/ ______________________________________________ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
