Journal Article

Mercury's Tidal Love Number h2 ${h}_{2}$ From Co‐Registration of MLA Profiles

Xiao, Haifeng, Gutiérrez, Pedro J, Stark, Alexander, Lara, Luisa M, Steinbrügge, Gregor, Briaud, Arthur

2025

Overview

Due to its eccentric orbit, Mercury experiences a varying gravitational pull from the Sun along its orbit, leading to periodic surface tidal deformation. The previous measurement of Mercury's tidal h2 ${h}_{2}$ by Bertone et al. (2021, ) is based on minimizing height differences at cross‐overs of the Mercury Laser Altimeter (MLA) profiles. However, this method can suffer from significant interpolation errors. In this study, we apply an alternative approach, which is based on the co‐registration of reprocessed MLA profiles. For the reprocessing, we account for the pointing aberration and incorporate an updated spacecraft orbit model. Within the study region of 77°N to 84°N, we obtain a tidal h2 ${h}_{2}$ of 0.92± $\\pm $0.58 (3‐σ $\\sigma $). This value is compatible with current interior structure and rheology models, but significantly lower than the previous estimate of 1.55± $\\pm $0.65 (3‐σ $\\sigma $). When combined with recent tidal k2 ${k}_{2}$ estimates, our measurement favors a small to medium‐sized inner core.

• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Inc
• Subject: Altimeters / Altimetry / Compatibility / Deformation / Eccentric orbits / Elliptical orbits / Gravity / Height / Interpolation / Interpolation errors / Laser altimeters / Lasers / Love number / Lower bounds / Mercury / Mercury (planet) / Polar environments / Polar regions / Profiles / Registration / Reprocessing / Rheological properties / Rheology / Solar system / Spacecraft / Spacecraft orbits