Chaotic Zones around Rotating Small Bodies
- Institut UTINAM, Observatoire des Sciences de l’Univers THETA, CNRS, Université de Franche-Comté, Besançon F-25030 (France)
Small bodies of the solar system, like asteroids, trans-Neptunian objects, cometary nuclei, and planetary satellites, with diameters smaller than 1000 km usually have irregular shapes, often resembling dumb-bells or contact binaries. The spinning of such a gravitating dumb-bell creates around it a zone of chaotic orbits. We determine its extent analytically and numerically. We find that the chaotic zone swells significantly if the rotation rate is decreased; in particular, the zone swells more than twice if the rotation rate is decreased 10 times with respect to the “centrifugal breakup” threshold. We illustrate the properties of the chaotic orbital zones in examples of the global orbital dynamics about asteroid 243 Ida (which has a moon, Dactyl, orbiting near the edge of the chaotic zone) and asteroid 25143 Itokawa.
- OSTI ID:
- 22663549
- Journal Information:
- Astronomical Journal (Online), Vol. 153, Issue 6; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1538-3881
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
CHAOTIC ZONES AROUND GRAVITATING BINARIES
DYNAMICAL HEATING INDUCED BY DWARF PLANETS ON COLD KUIPER BELT–LIKE DEBRIS DISKS