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M.G. Parisi, A. Brunini (FCAGLP, CONICET)
The stochastic processes at the end of the accretionary epoch have been long known (Safronov 1969). The large spin obliquity of Uranus (98\circ) is usually attributed to a great tangential collision with another protoplanet at the end of the accretion process (e.g., Korycansky et al. 1990, Parisi and Brunini 1997). Saturn may owe its obliquity (27\circ) to an impact by a very large protoplanet (Lissauer and Safronov 1991). If satellites had been orbiting around these planets before these large impacts had taken place, the impulse imparted at collision would have produced a shift in the orbital velocity of the satellites. Parisi and Brunini (1997) obtained that outer satellites of Uranus had been probably unbound. The discovery of the outer uranian moons (Gladman et al. 1998, 2000) set important constraints in this scenario. Physical conditions for Uranus, dynamical constraints and restrictions in the possible mechanisms for the origin of the outer uranian satellites were obtained from the knowledge of their actual orbital properties (Brunini et al. 2002). The richness of the irregular satellites systems is yielding valuable insights into the processes that occurred during the final stages of giant planet formation. We present here our first result of the modelling of a giant impact onto Saturn in connection with te recent discovery of a rich system of outer satellites of this planet (Gladman et al. 2001).
If the author provided an email address or URL for general inquiries,
it is as follows:
gparisi@fcaglp.fcaglp.unlp.edu.ar
Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 34, #3< br> © 2002. The American Astronomical Soceity.