Institute for Advanced Study Informal Astrophysics Seminar

ABSTRACT: Saturn's regular satellites exhibit a number of orbital anomalies, including the relatively high eccentricity of Titan, large inclination of Iapetus and surprisingly evolved Titan-Hyperion resonance. Recently, Lainey et al.(2012) reported a new analysis of Saturn moon astrometry going back decades and concluded that the tidal dissipation within Saturn is 10-20 faster than previously thought. I will discuss implications of this result for the history of the Saturnian system, with a focus on the past evolution of Titan.