Thermal evolution of trans‐Neptunian objects,icy satellites,and minor icy planets in the early solar system

Numerical simulations are performed to understand the early thermal evolution and planetary scale differentiation of icy bodies with the radii in the range of 100–2500 km. These icy bodies include trans‐Neptunian objects, minor icy planets (e.g., Ceres, Pluto); the icy satellites of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune; and probably the icy‐rocky cores of these planets. The decay energy of the radionuclides, ²⁶Al, ⁶⁰Fe, ⁴⁰K, ²³⁵U, ²³⁸U, and ²³²Th, along with the impact‐induced heating during the accretion of icy bodies were taken into account to thermally evolve these planetary bodies. The simulations were performed for a wide range of initial ice and rock (dust) mass fractions of the icy bodies. Three distinct accretion scenarios were used. The sinking of the rock mass fraction in primitive water oceans produced by the substantial melting of ice could lead to planetary scale differentiation with the formation of a rocky core that is surrounded by a water ocean and an icy crust within the initial tens of millions of years of the solar system in case the planetary bodies accreted prior to the substantial decay of ²⁶Al. However, over the course of billions of years, the heat produced due to ⁴⁰K, ²³⁵U, ²³⁸U, and ²³²Th could have raised the temperature of the interiors of the icy bodies to the melting point of iron and silicates, thereby leading to the formation of an iron core. Our simulations indicate the presence of an iron core even at the center of icy bodies with radii ≥500 km for different ice mass fractions.     

Growth and evolution of small porous icy bodies with an adaptive-grid thermal evolution code: I. Application to Kuiper belt objects and Enceladus

We present a new 1-dimensional thermal evolution code suited for small icy bodies of the Solar System, based on modern adaptive grid numerical techniques, and suited for multiphase flow through a porous medium. The code is used for evolutionary calculations spanning 4.6×¹⁰⁹ yr of a growing body made of ice and rock, starting with a 10 km radius seed and ending with an object 250 km in radius. Initial conditions are chosen to match two different classes of objects: a Kuiper belt object, and Saturn's moon Enceladus. Heating by the decay of ²⁶Al, as well as long-lived radionuclides is taken into account. Several values of the thermal conductivity and accretion laws are tested. We find that in all cases the melting point of ice is reached in a central core. Evaporation and flow of water and vapor gradually remove the water from the core and the final (present) structure is differentiated, with a rocky, highly porous core of 80 km radius (and up to 160 km for very low conductivities). Outside the core, due to refreezing of water and vapor, a compact, ice-rich layer forms, a few tens of km thick (except in the case of very high conductivity). If the ice is initially amorphous, as expected in the Kuiper belt, the amorphous ice is preserved in an outer layer about 20 km thick. We conclude by suggesting various ways in which the code may be extended.     

Ice-silicate fractionation among icy bodies due to the difference of impact strength between ice and ice-silicate mixture

Laboratory experiments on the impact disruption of ice-silicate mixtures were conducted to clarify the accretion process of small icy bodies. Since the icy bodies are composed of ice and silicates with various porosities, we investigated the effect of porosity on the impact disruption of mixtures. We tested the mixture target with the mass ratio of ice to silicate, 0.5 and with 5 different porosities (0, 12.5, 25, 32, 37%) at the impact velocities of 150 to 670 m/s. The silicate mass ratio was changed from 0 to 0.5 in steps of 0.1 at a porosity of 12.5% and a constant impact velocity of about 300 m/s. The impact strength of the mixture was found to decrease with increasing porosity and the silicate mass ratio between 0.1 and 0.5 could enhance the strength of the icy target. The observed dependence of the impact strength on the porosity is opposite to that observed for pure ice. This difference could play an important role in ice-silicate fractionation during the accretion process. Because, ice rich bodies are easily broken as the porosity decreases in their evolution, the collisional growth could be prohibited. On the other hand, among the silicate rich bodies the collisional growth could be enhanced.     

Radiation-induced amorphization of crystalline ice

We study radiation-induced amorphization of crystalline ice, analyzing the results of three decades of experiments with a variety of projectiles, irradiation energy, and ice temperature, finding a similar trend of increasing resistance of amorphization with temperature and inconsistencies in results from different laboratories. We discuss the temperature dependence of amorphization in terms of the ‘thermal spike’ model. We then discuss the common use of the 1.65 μm infrared absorption band of water as a measure of degree of crystallinity, an increasingly common procedure to analyze remote sensing data of astronomical icy bodies. The discussion is based on new, high quality near-infrared reflectance absorption spectra measured between 1.4 and 2.2 μm for amorphous and crystalline ices irradiated with 225 keV protons at 80 K. We found that, after irradiation with 10¹⁵ protons cm⁻², crystalline ice films thinner than the ion range become fully amorphous, and that the infrared absorption spectra show no significant changes upon further irradiation. The complete amorphization suggests that crystalline ice observed in the outer Solar System, including trans-neptunian objects, may results from heat from internal sources or from the impact of icy meteorites or comets.     

Early Thermal and Structural Evolution of Small Bodies in the Trans-Neptunian Zone

Early evolution of trans-Neptunian objects,commonly known as Kuiper Belt objects (KBOs),is the result of heating due to radioactive decay, the most important sourcebeing ²⁶Al. Several studiesare reviewed, dealing with the long-termevolution of KBO models, calculatedby means of 1-D numerical codesthat solve the heat and mass balanceequations on a fixed spherically symmetric grid. It is shown that, depending on parameters, the interior may reachquite high temperatures. The modelsthus suggest that KBOs are likely to lose the ices of very volatile species during early evolution; ices of less volatile species are retained in the cold subsurface layer. As the initially amorphous ice isshown to crystallize in the interior, some objects may also lose part of the volatiles trapped in amorphous ice. Generally, the outer layers are far less affected than the inner part, resulting in a stratified composition and altered porosity distribution. It is further shown that the thermal evolution of KBOs cannot be treated separately from their accretional evolution, as the processes occur in parallel. A systematic attempt to calculate accretion and thermal evolution simultaneously is presented, based on a numerical moving grid scheme. The accretion rate is obtained from the solution of the coupled coagulation equations for gravitationally interacting planetesimals. The effect of planetesimal velocities on the accretion scheme is included by a simplified equipartition argument. The time dependent accretion rates serve as input for the numerical solution of the heat transport equation for growing bodies mainly heated by radioactive decay of ²⁶Al, allowing for phase transitions. Calculations carried out over the parameter space [heliocentric distance; final radius; ice fraction] lead to conclusions regarding the structure of KBOs, such as melt fraction, or extent of crystalline ice region.     

Measuring the level of interstellar inheritance in the solar protoplanetary disk

The timing and extent to which the initial interstellar material was thermally processed provide fundamental constraints for models of the formation and early evolution of the solar protoplanetary disk. We argue that the nonsolar (solar Δ¹⁷O ≈ ?29‰) and near‐terrestrial (Δ¹⁷O ≈ 0‰) O‐isotopic compositions of the Earth and most extraterrestrial materials (Moon, Mars, asteroids, and comet dust) were established very early by heating of regions of the disk that were modestly enriched (dust/gas ≥ 5–10 times solar) in primordial silicates (Δ¹⁷O ≈ ?29‰) and water‐dominated ice (Δ¹⁷O ≈ 24‰) relative to the gas. Such modest enrichments could be achieved by grain growth and settling of dust to the midplane in regions where the levels of turbulence were modest. The episodic heating of the disk associated with FU Orionis outbursts were the likely causes of this early thermal processing of dust. We also estimate that at the time of accretion the CI chondrite and interplanetary dust particle parent bodies were composed of ~5–10% of pristine interstellar material. The matrices of all chondrites included roughly similar interstellar fractions. Whether this interstellar material avoided the thermal processing experienced by most dust during FU Orionis outbursts or was accreted by the disk after the outbursts ceased to be important remains to be established.     

Saturn's icy satellites: Thermal and structural models

Thermal histories of the small icy Saturnian satellites Mimas, Tethys, Dione, Rhea, and Iapetus are constructed by assuming that they formed as homogeneous ice-silicate mixtures. The models include effects of radiogenic and accretional heating, conductive and subsolidus convective heat transfer, and lithospheric growth. Accretional heating is unlikely to have melted the water ice in the interiors of these bodies and solid state creep of the predominately ice material precludes melting by radiogenic heating. Mimas is so small that its thermal evolution is essentially purely conductive; at present it is a cold, nearly isothermal body. Any subsolidus convection or thermal activity in Mimas would have been confined to a brief period in its early history and would have been due to a warm formation. The four largest satellites are big enough and contain sufficient heat-producing silicates that solid state convection beneath a rigid lithosphere is inevitable independent of initial conditions. Dione and Rhea have convective interiors for most of their thermal histories, while Tethys and Iapetus have mainly conductive thermal histories with early periods of convective 0activity. The thermal histories of the five satellites for the last 4 by are independent of initial conditions; at present they have cold, conductive interiors. The model thermal histories are qualitatively consistent with the appearances of these satellites: Mimas has an ancient heavily cratered surface, Tethys and probably Iapetus have both heavily cratered and more lightly cratered areas, and Dione and Rhea have extensively modified surfaces. Because of their similar sizes and densities, Mimas and Enceladus are expected to have similar surfaces and thermal histories, but instead Enceladus has the most modified surface of all the small icy Saturnian satellites. Our results suggest a heat source for Enceladus, in addition to radiogenic and accretional heating; tidal dissipation is a possibility. Because the water ice in these bodies does not melt, resurfacing must be accomplished by the melting of a low-melting-temperature minor component such as ammonia hydrate.     

Accretion of the asteroids: Implications for their thermal evolution

Thermal models of asteroids generally assume that they accreted either instantaneously or over an extended interval with a prescribed growth rate. It is conventionally assumed that the onset of accretion of chondrite parent bodies was delayed until a substantial fraction of the initial ²⁶Al had decayed. However, this interval is not consistent with the early melting, and differentiation of parent bodies of iron meteorites. Formation time scales are tested by dynamical simulations of accretion from small primary planetesimals. Gravitational accretion yields rapid runaway growth of large planetary embryos until most smaller bodies are depleted. In a given simulation, all asteroid‐sized bodies have comparable growth times, regardless of size. For plausible parameters, growth times are shorter than the lifetime of ²⁶Al, consistent with thermal models that assume instantaneous accretion. Rapid growth after planetesimal formation is consistent with differentiation of parent bodies of iron meteorites, but not with the assumed delay in formation of chondritic bodies. After the initial growth stage, there is an interval of slower evolution until the belt is stirred and the embryos are dynamically removed. During this interval, a fraction of asteroid‐sized bodies experience large accretional impacts, allowing bodies of the same final size to have very different histories of radius versus time. Accretion from small primary planetesimals leaves some fraction of material in bodies small enough to preserve CAIs while avoiding heating by ²⁶Al. Unheated material can be a significant fraction of the mass that remains after large embryos are removed from the Main Belt.     

From KBOs to Centaurs: The thermal connection

Abstract— We present results of thermal evolution calculations for objects originating in the Kuiper belt and transferring inwards, to the region of the outer planets. Kuiper belt objects (KBOs) are considered to be part of a reservoir that supplies the flux of small icy bodies, mainly Centaurs and Jupiter‐family comets, to regions interior to the orbit of Neptune. We study the internal thermal evolution, for ?10⁸ yr, of three typical KBOs and use the end state of the simulation as initial conditions for evolutionary calculations of two typical Centaurs. Some evolutionary trends can be identified for the KBOs, depending on key physical parameters, such as size and composition. The subsequent evolution in the Centaur region results in both specific features for each modeled object (mainly surface and sub‐surface composition) and common characteristics of thermally evolved Centaurs.     

Numerical Modeling of Al-Induced Radioactive Melting of Asteroids Considering Accretion

We have developed a computer code that solves numerically the 1D heat transport equation for small planetary bodies consisting of silicate material and heated by ²⁶Al. At the same time the bodies' accretion (with a size from 1 km—or smaller—to several hundred kilometers) is taken into account as radial growth. We find that the consideration of accretion is inevitable as it affects the thermal evolution resulting from heating by radioisotopes. Significant changes in thermal behavior are shown to occur in comparison with calculations that assume instantaneous accretion.     

Micrometeorite impact annealing of ice in the outer Solar System

The spectra of water ice on the surfaces of icy satellites and Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs) indicate that the surface ice on these bodies is in a crystalline state. This conflicts with theoretical models, which predict that radiation (galactic cosmic rays and solar ultraviolet) should damage the crystalline structure of ice on geologically short timescales. Temperatures are too low in the outer Solar System for the ice to anneal, and reflectance spectra of these bodies should match those of amorphous solid water (ASW). We assess whether the kinetic energy deposited as heat by micrometeorite impacts on outer Solar System bodies is sufficient to anneal their surface ice down to a near-infrared optical depth . We calculate the kinetic energy flux from interplanetary micrometeorite impacts, including gravitational focusing. We also calculate the thermal diffusion of impact heat in various surfaces and the rate of annealing of ice. We conclude that the rate of annealing from micrometeorite impacts is sufficient to explain the crystallinity of ice on nearly all the surfaces of the saturnian, uranian and neptunian satellites. We discuss how the model can be used in conjunction with spectra of KBOs to probe dust fluxes in the Kuiper Belt.     

Enceladus: Present internal structure and differentiation by early and long-term radiogenic heating

Pre-Cassini images of Saturn's small icy moon Enceladus provided the first indication that this satellite has undergone extensive resurfacing and tectonism. Data returned by the Cassini spacecraft have proven Enceladus to be one of the most geologically dynamic bodies in the Solar System. Given that the diameter of Enceladus is only about 500 km, this is a surprising discovery and has made Enceladus an object of much interest. Determining Enceladus' interior structure is key to understanding its current activity. Here we use the mean density of Enceladus (as determined by the Cassini mission to Saturn), Cassini observations of endogenic activity on Enceladus, and numerical simulations of Enceladus' thermal evolution to infer that this satellite is most likely a differentiated body with a large rock-metal core of radius about 150 to 170 km surrounded by a liquid water-ice shell. With a silicate mass fraction of 50% or more, long-term radiogenic heating alone might melt most of the ice in a homogeneous Enceladus after about 500 Myr assuming an initial accretion temperature of about 200 K, no subsolidus convection of the ice, and either a surface temperature higher than at present or a porous, insulating surface. Short-lived radioactivity, e.g., the decay of ²⁶Al, would melt all of the ice and differentiate Enceladus within a few million years of accretion assuming formation of Enceladus at a propitious time prior to the decay of ²⁶Al. Long-lived radioactivity facilitates tidal heating as a source of energy for differentiation by warming the ice in Enceladus so that tidal deformation can become effective. This could explain the difference between Enceladus and Mimas. Mimas, with only a small rock fraction, has experienced relatively little long-term radiogenic heating; it has remained cold and stiff and less susceptible to tidal heating despite its proximity to Saturn and larger eccentricity than Enceladus. It is shown that the shape of Enceladus is not that of a body in hydrostatic equilibrium at its present orbital location and rotation rate. The present shape could be an equilibrium shape corresponding to a time when Enceladus was closer to Saturn and spinning more rapidly, or more likely, to a time when Enceladus was spinning more rapidly at its present orbital location. A liquid water layer on Enceladus is a possible source for the plume in the south polar region assuming the survivability of such a layer to the present. These results could place Enceladus in a category similar to the large satellites of Jupiter, with the core having a rock-metal composition similar to Io, and with a deep overlying ice shell similar to Europa and Ganymede. Indeed, the moment of inertia factor of a differentiated Enceladus, C/MR², could be as small as that of Ganymede, about 0.31.     

Water,heat, bombardment: The evolution and current state of (2) Pallas

Using recent constraints on the shape and density of (2) Pallas, we model the thermal evolution of the body as a function of possible formation scenarios that differ in the time of formation and composition assumed for the protoplanet. We develop possible evolution scenarios for Pallas and compare these to available observations. Our models imply two distinct types of end states: those with a hydrosphere and silicate core, and those where the body is dominated by hydrated silicates. We show that for an initial ice-rock mixture with density 2400 kg/m³, Pallas is likely to differentiate and form a rocky core and icy shell. If Pallas accreted from material with lower initial ice content, our models indicate that Pallas’s interior is dominated by hydrated silicates, possibly with a core of anhydrous silicates.We also investigate the possibility that Pallas’s initial density was similar to Ceres’, i.e., that it formed from an ice–rock mixture of density 2100 kg/m³. This implies that the object lost a significant fraction of its hydrosphere as a consequence of thermal oscillations and impacts, a distinct possibility given its density, evidence for impact excavation and current orbital parameters. Its blue spectral slope and observed surface variation may also be evidence for such a process (e.g. Jewitt, D.C. [2002]. Astron. J. 123, 1039–1049; Schmidt, B.E. et al. [2009]. Science 326, 275–279; Yang, B., Jewitt, D. [2010]. Astron. J. 140, 692–698). If Pallas still contains a thin layer of water ice, then that layer corresponds to the bottom of a former icy shell, and as such, could be enriched in non-ice materials such as organics. We evaluate the likeliness of each scenario and show the general magnitude of water loss processes for Pallas. Given a balance of observational and theoretical constraints, we favor a water-rich accretion for Pallas that implies that Pallas has lost a significant fraction of its initial water content through exogenic processes since its internal evolution ceased. We also discuss implications of this work to other hydrated asteroids.     

Testing accretion mechanisms of the H chondrite parent body utilizing nucleosynthetic anomalies

Planetary bodies a few hundred kilometers in radii are the precursors to larger planets but it is unclear whether these bodies themselves formed very rapidly or accreted slowly over several millions of years. Ordinary H chondrite meteorites provide an opportunity to investigate the accretion time scale of a small planetary body given that variable degrees of thermal metamorphism present in H chondrites provide a proxy for their stratigraphic depth and, therefore, relative accretion times. We exploit this feature to search for nucleosynthetic isotope variability of ⁵⁴Cr, which is a sensitive tracer of spatial and temporal variations in the protoplanetary disk's solids, between 17 H chondrites covering all petrologic types to obtain clues about the parent body accretionary rate. We find no systematic variability in the mass‐biased corrected abundances of ⁵³Cr or ⁵⁴Cr outside of the analytical uncertainties, suggesting very rapid accretion of the H chondrite parent body consistent with turbulent accretion. By utilizing the μ⁵⁴Cr–planetary mass relationship observed between inner solar system planetary bodies, we calculate that the H chondrite accretion occurred at 1.1 ± 0.4 or 1.8 ± 0.2 Myr after the formation of calcium‐aluminum‐rich inclusions (CAIs), assuming either the initial ²⁶Al/²⁷Al abundance of inner solar system solids determined from angrite meteorites or CAIs from CV chondrites, respectively. Notably, these ages are in agreement with age estimates based on the parent bodies’ thermal evolution when correcting these calculations to the same initial ²⁶Al/²⁷Al abundance, reinforcing the idea of a secular evolution in the isotopic composition of inner disk solids.     

Geophysical evolution of Saturn’s satellite Phoebe,a large planetesimal in the outer Solar System

Saturn’s satellite Phoebe is the best-characterized representative of large outer Solar System planetesimals, thanks to the close flyby by the Cassini spacecraft in June 2004. We explore the information contained in Phoebe’s physical properties, density and shape, which are significantly different from those of other icy objects in its size range. Phoebe’s higher density has been interpreted as evidence that it was captured, probably from the proto-Kuiper-Belt. First, we demonstrate that Phoebe’s shape is globally relaxed and consistent with a spheroid in hydrostatic equilibrium with its rotation period. This distinguishes the satellite from ‘rubble-piles’ that are thought to result from the disruption of larger proto-satellites. We numerically model the geophysical evolution of Phoebe, accounting for the feedback between porosity and thermal state. We compare thermal evolution models for different assumptions on the formation of Phoebe, in particular the state of its water, amorphous or crystalline. We track the evolution of porosity and thermal conductivity as well as the destabilization of amorphous ice or clathrate hydrates. While rubble-piles may never reach temperatures suitable for porous ice to creep and relax, we argue that Phoebe’s shape could have relaxed due to heat from the decay of ²⁶Al, provided that this object formed less than 3 Myr after the production of the calcium–aluminum inclusions. This is consistent with the idea that Phoebe could be an exemplar of planetesimals that formed in the transneptunian region and later accreted onto outer planet satellites, either during the satellite’s formation stage, or still later, during the late heavy bombardment.     

The early thermal evolution of Mars

Hf‐W isotopic systematics of Martian meteorites have provided evidence for the early accretion and rapid core formation of Mars. We present the results of numerical simulations performed to study the early thermal evolution and planetary scale differentiation of Mars. The simulations are confined to the initial 50 Myr (Ma) of the formation of solar system. The accretion energy produced during the growth of Mars and the decay energy due to the short‐lived radio‐nuclides ²⁶Al, ⁶⁰Fe, and the long‐lived nuclides, ⁴⁰K, ²³⁵U, ²³⁸U, and ²³²Th are incorporated as the heat sources for the thermal evolution of Mars. During the core‐mantle differentiation of Mars, the molten metallic blobs were numerically moved using Stoke's law toward the center with descent velocity that depends on the local acceleration due to gravity. Apart from the accretion and the radioactive heat energies, the gravitational energy produced during the differentiation of Mars and the associated heat transfer is also parametrically incorporated in the present work to make an assessment of its contribution to the early thermal evolution of Mars. We conclude that the accretion energy alone cannot produce widespread melting and differentiation of Mars even with an efficient consumption of the accretion energy. This makes ²⁶Al the prime source for the heating and planetary scale differentiation of Mars. We demonstrate a rapid accretion and core‐mantle differentiation of Mars within the initial ~1.5 Myr. This is consistent with the chronological records of Martian meteorites.     

Constraining the surface properties of Saturn's icy moons, using Cassini/CIRS emissivity spectra

We have conducted a search for emissivity features in the thermal infrared spectrum of the icy satellites of Saturn, Phoebe, Iapetus, Enceladus, Tethys, and Hyperion, observed by the Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS) on board the Cassini spacecraft. Despite the heterogeneity of the composition of these bodies depicted by Earth-based and Cassini/VIMS observations, the CIRS spectra of all satellites are undistinguishable from black-body spectra, with no detectable emissivity feature. However, several materials, which have been detected on the surface of the same bodies, present emissivity features in the analyzed spectral range. In particular, water ice presents features with sufficient contrast to be detected by CIRS. Here we study the physical causes of the absence of features by simulating the effects of intimate mixtures using models of directional emissivity for optically thick surfaces for different particle sizes and abundances, and porosities. The simulations include a set of materials detected on the Phoebe's surface, like water ice, hydrated silicates, and organics. We find that featureless spectra can be produced in three scenarios: (1) ice particles with large sizes, (2) mixtures of ices dominated by dark contaminants, and (3) small particles with large porosity. Constraints imposed by the NIR spectra of the satellites favors the latter scenario as the more likely explanation to the absence of emissivity features on the icy satellites of Saturn.     

Radiogenic heating of comets by 26Al and implications for their time of formation

The effect of radiogenic heating on the thermal evolution of spherical icy bodies with radii 1 km < R < 100 km was investigated. The radioisotopes considered were 26Al, 40K, 232Th, 235U, and 238U. Except for the 26Al abundance, which was varied, the other initial abundances were kept fixed, at values derived from those of chondritic meteorites and corresponding to a gas-to-dust ratio of 1. The initial models were homogeneous and isothermal (To = 10 K) amorphous ice spheres, in a circular orbit at 10(4) AU from the Sun. The main object of this study was to examine the conditions under which the transition temperature from amorphous into cubic ice (Ta = 137 K) would be reached. It was shown that the influence of the short-lived radionuclide 26Al dominates the effect of other radioactive species for bodies of radii up to approximately 50 km. Consequently, if we require comets to retain their ice in amorphous form, as suggested by observations, an upper limit of approximately 4 x 10(-9) is obtained for the initial 26Al abundance in comets, a factor of 100 lower than that of the inclusions in the Allende meteorite. A lower limit for the formation time of comets may thus be derived. The possibility of a coexistence of molten cometary cores and extended amorphous ice mantles is ruled out. Larger icy spheres (R > 100 km) reached Ta even in the absence of 26Al, due to the decay of the other radionuclides. As a result, a crystalline core formed whose relative size depended on the composition assumed. Thus the outermost icy satellites in the solar system, which might have been formed of ice in the amorphous state, have probably undergone crystallization and may have exhibited eruptive activity when the gas trapped in the amorphous ice was released (e.g., Miranda).     

Topography on satellite surfaces and the shape of asteroids

Calculations of the topography and shape of planetary bodies are presented for two sets of models. One set of models deals with the effects of static loading on bodies, taking into account strengths of materials, density, and size. The other set considers the effects of creep deformation on model bodies of differing composition, size and temperature. Application of these models to asteroids and satellites of the major planets indicates that model, even the largest asteroids could retain highly nonspherical shapes, and the four large satellites of Jupiter could sustain statically loaded topography on the order of 10 km. (2) If silicate asteroids have not been heated to near the melting temperature of silicates, initial topography should survive for at least 109 yr under creep deformation. Topography on an insulated icy asteroid will be rapidly reduced if it is of larger scale than the insulating layer, no matter what the thermal history. (3) Of the Galilean satellites of Jupiter, J1 and J2 should retain topography created on silicate surfaces since their formation (or since the surfaces were near the silicate melting temperature. If ice layers of any significant thickness exist, topography on a scale smaller than the layer's thickness will be reduced rapidly. (4) J4 and J3 probably fit an icy model throughout and topography of all scales may be reduced with relaxation times < 10⁶yr. These satellites are thus likely to preserve only very recent features on their surfaces, in contrast to the other Galilean satellites. If melting has taken place since formation, these conclusions become even stronger. (5) Of the satellites of the other planets, only Titan appears likely to have undergone topographic reduction by creep, under the models presented. However, if ices other than water are present in large proportion on these satellites relaxation times for topography may be shorter than calculated from the water ice models.