# Moments of inertia of planets

The three principal moments of inertia of Earth and Moon are reported, for example, in T. J. Ahrens, Global Earth Physics - A handbook of Physical Constants.

I have found reports of the moment of inertia factor $\dfrac{C}{M R^2}$, where $C$ is the polar moment of inertia, $M$ the mass and $R$ the mean radius, for planets of the solar system.

Are the three principal moments of inertia for the planets of the solar system known?

• I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because questions asking for references are generally undesirable. Aug 30 '17 at 13:15
• @CarlWitthoft Where is this asking for references? James wants to know if the principle moments of inertia are known. Any good answer will use references, but this question is not specifically asking for someone to provide him with references. Aug 30 '17 at 13:47
• @zephyr well, sans references, the answer is either "yes" or "no," neither of which is much help Aug 30 '17 at 17:24
• @CarlWitthoft I still don't see your point. Any answer on here should provide references. If that's your metric for closing a question, all questions should be closed. James' question should only be closed (as it pertains to references) if either (a) it is clear he is asking us to do his own homework/research or (b) he is asking only for resources. As it is, neither seem to be true and this is a perfectly valid question whose answer should reference materials for support. Aug 30 '17 at 17:26
• Not sure what to do with questions that can be solved by simply googling the exact same question... Sep 1 '17 at 21:34

$$I=\frac{2}{5}mr^2$$