Tidal heating

Tidal heating is the conversion of orbital and rotational energy into internal heat as gravity-driven tides deform a body and its material dissipates energy.

Tidal force: The difference in gravitational pull across an extended body, caused by another object's varying gravitational field. This gravitational gradient supplies the stress that deforms a tidally heated body.
Io: The innermost large moon of Jupiter, known for intense volcanism. Jupiter's tides power Io's exceptional volcanic heat output.
Astrobiology: The study of the origin, evolution, distribution, and potential existence of life in the universe. Tidal heating can supply energy to subsurface environments beyond a star's habitable zone.
Radiogenic heating: Internal heating produced by the radioactive decay of unstable isotopes. It heats planetary interiors through nuclear decay rather than tidal deformation.
Orbital eccentricity: A measure of how much an orbit deviates from a circle. An eccentric orbit makes the tide-raising force vary during each revolution.
Europa: A moon of Jupiter with an icy crust over a likely global subsurface ocean. Tidal energy may help keep Europa's ocean liquid beneath its ice.
Subsurface ocean: A body of liquid water beneath the solid surface of a moon or planet. Tidal heat can help prevent buried oceans from freezing.
Accretion heating: Heat generated as matter collides and accumulates during the formation of an astronomical body. It is a major formative heat source that does not require continuing orbital tides.
Viscoelasticity: The property of a material that responds to deformation with both elastic recovery and time-dependent flow. A body's viscoelastic response controls how much tidal work becomes heat.
Enceladus: A small icy moon of Saturn that ejects water-rich plumes from fractures near its south pole. Its plume activity and subsurface sea are linked to tidal energy dissipation.

Linked from 26 pages