Overview
- The modelling study by teams at UC Riverside and the University of Bordeaux, published Monday, tested many scenarios and found that in most cases a hypothetical Venusian moon would move inward and be destroyed.
- Simulations varied Venus’s initial spin, the moon’s mass and orbit, and tidal dissipation; outcomes ranged from tens of millions to about 1.7 billion years before the moon reached the Roche limit and broke up.
- The key mechanism is reversed tidal torque: because Venus rotates far more slowly than Earth, tidal forces can remove orbital energy from a satellite and pull it inward rather than push it away.
- The result is model-based not conclusive because different tidal prescriptions and unknown interior dissipation on Venus can allow survival in some cases, and there is no direct geological evidence on the resurfaced planet.
- Confirming or refuting the scenario will likely rely on peer review and future Venus data such as seismic and interior measurements from planned missions like NASA’s DAVINCI+ and VERITAS.