Tidal interaction

A gravitational disturbance caused by differences in gravitational force across an astronomical body. It can deform bodies, transfer energy and angular momentum, and alter their orbits or rotation.

Tidal force: The variation in gravitational force across an extended body caused by another mass. This underlying force creates the distortions that define a tidal interaction.
Tidal heating: Heat generated inside a body as tidal deformation is dissipated. Internal heating can sustain volcanism or subsurface oceans in tidally flexed worlds.
Tidal Love number: A dimensionless measure of how strongly a body deforms in response to a tidal potential. Measured deformation constrains the interior structure of tidally forced worlds.
Gravitational binding energy: The energy required to disperse a self-gravitating body against its own gravity. Tidal disruption occurs when external stresses rival a body's gravitational cohesion.
Tidal bulge: A deformation of a body raised by an external gravitational field. The bulge is a visible result of differential gravity acting across a body.
Io (moon): Jupiter's innermost large moon, marked by intense volcanism driven largely by tidal heating. Io demonstrates how orbital forcing can turn tidal deformation into extreme geological activity.
Tidal quality factor: A measure of how efficiently a body dissipates energy during cyclic tidal deformation. It quantifies the dissipation that governs long-term tidal evolution.
Hill sphere: The region around an astronomical body where its gravity can retain satellites against a larger body's influence. It concerns orbital stability, unlike the internal deformation central to tidal interaction.
Tidal locking: A state in which a body's rotation period matches its orbital period around another body. Repeated tidal torques can synchronize a body's rotation with its orbit.
Europa (moon): A moon of Jupiter with an icy surface and strong evidence for a subsurface ocean. Tidal heating may help keep Europa's subsurface ocean liquid.

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