Dynamical Tides in Jupiter as Revealed by Juno

Abstract

The Juno orbiter has continued to collect data on Jupiter s gravity field with unprecedented precision since 2016, recently reporting a nonhydrostatic component in the tidal response of the planet. At the mid-mission perijove 17, Juno registered a Love number k 2 = 0.565 ± 0.006 that is −4% ± 1% (1σ) from the theoretical hydrostatic k2(hs)=0.590 . Here we assess whether the aforementioned departure of tides from hydrostatic equilibrium represents the neglected gravitational contribution of dynamical tides. We employ perturbation theory and simple tidal models to calculate a fractional dynamical correction Δk 2 to the well-known hydrostatic k 2. Exploiting the analytical simplicity of a toy uniform-density model, we show how the Coriolis acceleration motivates the negative sign in the Δk 2 observed by Juno. By simplifying Jupiter’s interior into a coreless, fully convective, and chemically homogeneous body, we calculate Δk 2 in a model following an n = 1 polytrope equation of state. Our numerical results for the n = 1 polytrope qualitatively follow the behavior of the uniform-density model, mostly because the main component of the tidal flow is similar in each case. Our results indicate that the gravitational effect of the Io-induced dynamical tide leads to Δk 2 = − 4% ± 1%, in agreement with the nonhydrostatic component reported by Juno. Consequently, our results suggest that Juno obtained the first unambiguous detection of the gravitational effect of dynamical tides in a gas giant planet. These results facilitate a future interpretation of Juno tidal gravity data with the purpose of elucidating the existence of a dilute core in Jupiter.