Secular spin dynamics of inner main-belt asteroids

Understanding the evolution of asteroid spin states is challenging work, in part because asteroids have a variety of orbits, shapes, spin states, and collisional histories but also because they are strongly influenced by gravitational and non-gravitational (YORP) torques. Using efficient numerical models designed to investigate asteroid orbit and spin dynamics, we study here how several individual asteroids have had their spin states modified over time in response to these torques (i.e., 951 Gaspra, 60 Echo, 32 Pomona, 230 Athamantis, 105 Artemis). These test cases which sample semimajor axis and inclination space in the inner main belt, were chosen as probes into the large parameter space described above. The ultimate goal is to use these data to statistically characterize how all asteroids in the main belt population have reached their present-day spin states. We found that the spin dynamics of prograde-rotating asteroids in the inner main belt is generally less regular than that of the retrograde-rotating ones because of numerous overlapping secular spin-orbit resonances. These resonances strongly affect the spin histories of all bodies, while those of small asteroids (?40 km) are additionally influenced by YORP torques. In most cases, gravitational and non-gravitational torques cause asteroid spin axis orientations to vary widely over short (?1 My) timescales. Our results show that (951) Gaspra has a highly chaotic rotation state induced by an overlap of the s and s₆ spin-orbit resonances. This hinders our ability to investigate its past evolution and infer whether thermal torques have acted on Gaspra's spin axis since its origin.     

A note concerning the 2:1 and the 3:2 resonances in the asteroid belt

The dynamical behavior of asteroids inside the 2:1 and 3:2 commensurabilities with Jupiter presents a challenge. Indeed most of the studies, either analytical or numerical, point out that the two resonances have a very similar dynamical behavior. In spite of that, the 3:2 resonance, a little outside the main belt, hosts a family of asteroids, called the Hildas, while the 2:1, inside the main belt, is associated to a gap (the Hecuba gap) in the distribution of asteroids.In his search for a dynamical explanation for the Hecuba gap, Wisdom (1987) pointed out the existence of orbits starting with low eccentricity and inclination inside the 2:1 commensurability and going to high eccentricity, and thus to possible encounters with Mars. It has been shown later (Henrard et al.), that these orbits were following a path from the low eccentric belt of secondary resonances to the high eccentric domain of secular resonances. This path crosses a bridge, at moderate inclination and large amplitude of libration, between the two chaotic domains associated with these resonances.The 3:2 resonance being similar in many respects to the 2:1 resonance, one may wonder whether it contains also such a path. Indeed we have found that it exists and is very similar to the 2:1 one. This is the object of the present paper.     

The primordial excitation and clearing of the asteroid belt—Revisited

We have performed new simulations of two different scenarios for the excitation and depletion of the primordial asteroid belt, assuming Jupiter and Saturn on initially circular orbits as predicted by the Nice Model of the evolution of the outer Solar System [Gomes, R., Levison, H.F., Tsiganis, K., Morbidelli, A., 2005. Nature 435, 466-469; Tsiganis, K., Gomes, R., Morbidelli, A., Levison, H.F., 2005. Nature 435, 459-461; Morbidelli, A., Levison, H.F., Tsiganis, K., Gomes, R., 2005. Nature 435, 462-465]. First, we study the effects of sweeping secular resonances driven by the depletion of the solar nebula. We find that these sweeping secular resonances are incapable of giving sufficient dynamical excitation to the asteroids for nebula depletion timescales consistent with estimates for solar-type stars, and in addition cannot cause significant mass depletion in the asteroid belt or produce the observed radial mixing of different asteroid taxonomic types. Second, we study the effects of planetary embryos embedded in the primordial asteroid belt. These embedded planetary embryos, combined with the action of jovian and saturnian resonances, can lead to dynamical excitation and radial mixing comparable to the current asteroid belt. The mass depletion driven by embedded planetary embryos alone, even in the case of an eccentric Jupiter and Saturn, is roughly 10-20× less than necessary to explain the current mass of the main belt, and thus a secondary depletion event, such as that which occurs naturally in the Nice Model, is required. We discuss the implications of our new simulations for the dynamical and collisional evolution of the main belt.     

The main mean motion commensurabilities in the planar circular and elliptic problem

We study the motion of asteroids in the main mean motion commensurabilities in the frame of the planar restricted three-body problem. No assumption is made about the size of the eccentricity of the asteroid. At small to moderate eccentricity, we recover existing results (shape of the phase space and location of secondary resonances). We also provide global pictures of the dynamics in the region of secondary resonances. At high eccentricity, the phase space portraits of the integrable part of the Hamiltonian show new families of stable orbits for the 3:2 and 2:1 cases and the secular resonances ₅ and ₆ are located.     

Review of the dynamics in the Kirkwood gaps

The study of mean motion resonance dynamics was motivated by the search for an explanation for the puzzling problem of the Kirkwood gaps. The most important contributions in this field within the last 32 years are reviewed here. At the beginning of that period, which coincides with the first long-term numerical investigations of resonant motion, different hypotheses (collisional, gravitational, statistical and cosmological) to explain the origin of the gaps were still competing with each other. At present, a general theory, based on gravitational mechanisms only, is capable of explaining in a uniform way all the Kirkwood gaps except the 2/1 one. Indeed, in the 4/1, 3/1, 5/2 and 7/3 mean motion commensurabilities, the overlap of secular resonances leads to almost overall chaos where asteroids undergo large and wild variations in their orbital elements. Such asteroids, if not thrown directly into the Sun, are sooner or later subject to strong close encounters with the largest inner planets, the typical time scale of the whole process being of the order of a few million years. Unfortunately, this mechanism is not capable of explaining the 2/1 gap where the strong chaos produced by the overlapping secular resonances does not attain orbits with moderate eccentricity, of low inclination and with low to moderate amplitude of libration. In the light of the most recent studies, it appears that the 2/1 gap is the global consequence of slow diffusive processes. At present, the origin of these processes remains under study.     

Dynamics of Mars Trojans

In this paper we explore the dynamical stability of the Mars Trojan region applying mainly Laskar's Frequency Map Analysis. This method yields the chaotic diffusion rate of orbits and allows to determine the most stable regions. It also gives the frequencies which are responsible for the instability of orbits. The most stable regions are found for inclinations between about 15° and 30°. For inclinations smaller than 15°, we confirm, by applying a synthetic secular theory, that the secular resonances ν₃, ν₄, ν₁₃, ν₁₄ rapidly excite asteroid orbits within a few Myrs, or even faster. The asteroids are removed from the Trojan region after a close encounter with Mars. For large inclinations, the secular resonance ν₅ clears a small region around 30° while the Kozai resonance rapidly removes bodies for inclinations larger than 35°. The dynamical lifetimes of the three L5 Trojans, (5261) Eureka, 1998 VF31, 2001 DH47, and the only L4 Trojan 1999 UJ7 are determined by numerically integrating clouds of corresponding clones over the age of the Solar System. All four Trojans reside in the most stable region with smallest diffusion coefficients. Their dynamical half-lifetime is of the order of the age of the Solar System. The Yarkovsky force has little effect on the known Trojans but for bodies smaller than about 1-5 m the drag is strong enough to destabilize Trojans on a timescale shorter than 4.5 Gyr.     

On the Instability of Jupiter's Trojans

We have numerically explored the mechanisms that destabilize Jupiter's Trojan orbits outside the stability region defined by Levison et al. (1997, Nature385, 42-44). Different models have been exploited to test various possible sources of instability on timescales on the order of ∼10⁸ years.In the restricted three-body model, only a few Trojan orbits become unstable within 10⁸ years. This intrinsic instability contributes only marginally to the overall instability found by Levison et al.In a model where the orbital parameters of both Jupiter and Saturn are fixed, we have investigated the role of Saturn and its gravitational influence. We find that a large fraction of Trojan orbits become unstable because of the direct nonresonant perturbations by Saturn. By shifting its semimajor axis at constant intervals around its present value we find that the near 5:2 mean motion resonance between the two giant planets (the Great Inequality) is not responsible for the gross instability of Jupiter's Trojans since short-term perturbations by Saturn destabilize Trojans, even when the two planets are far out of the resonance.Secular resonances are an additional source of instability. In the full six-body model with the four major planets included in the numerical integration, we have analyzed the effects of secular resonances with the node of the planets. Trojan asteroids have relevant inclinations, and nodal secular resonances play an important role. When a Trojan orbit becomes unstable, in most cases the libration amplitude of the critical argument of the 1:1 mean motion resonance grows until the asteroid encounters the planet. Libration amplitude, eccentricity, and nodal rate are linked for Trojan orbits by an algebraic relation so that when one of the three parameters is perturbed, the other two are affected as well. There are numerous secular resonances with the nodal rate of Jupiter that fall inside the region of instability and contribute to destabilize Trojans, in particular the ν₁₆. Indeed, in the full model the escape rate over 50 Myr is higher compared to the fixed model.Some secular resonances even cross the stability region delimited by Levison et al. and cause instability. This is the case of the 3:2 and 1:2 nodal resonances with Jupiter. In particular the 1:2 is responsible for the instability of some clones of the L4 Trojan (3540) Protesilaos.     

The resonant structure of Jupiter's Trojan asteroids – II. What happens for different configurations of the planetary system

In a previous paper, we have found that the resonance structure of the present Jupiter Trojan swarms could be split up into four different families of resonances. Here, in a first step, we generalize these families in order to describe the resonances occurring in Trojan swarms embedded in a generic planetary system. The location of these families changes under a modification of the fundamental frequencies of the planets and we show how the resonant structure would evolve during a planetary migration. We present a general method, based on the knowledge of the fundamental frequencies of the planets and on those that can be reached by the Trojans, which makes it possible to predict and localize the main events arising in the swarms during migration. In particular, we show how the size and stability of the Trojan swarms are affected by the modification of the frequencies of the planets. Finally, we use this method to study the global dynamics of the Jovian Trojan swarms when Saturn migrates outwards. Besides the two resonances found by Morbidelli et al. which could have led to the capture of the current population just after the crossing of the 2:1 orbital resonance, we also point out several sequences of chaotic events that can influence the Trojan population.     

The dynamics of Neptune Trojan – I. The inclined orbits

The stability of Trojan type orbits around Neptune is studied. As the first part of our investigation, we present in this paper a global view of the stability of Trojans on inclined orbits. Using the frequency analysis method based on the fast Fourier transform technique, we construct high-resolution dynamical maps on the plane of initial semimajor axis a ₀ versus inclination i ₀. These maps show three most stable regions, with i ₀ in the range of  (0°, 12°), (22°, 36°)  and  (51°, 59°),  respectively, where the Trojans are most probably expected to be found. The similarity between the maps for the leading and trailing triangular Lagrange points L ₄ and L ₅ confirms the dynamical symmetry between these two points. By computing the power spectrum and the proper frequencies of the Trojan motion, we figure out the mechanisms that trigger chaos in the motion. The Kozai resonance found at high inclination varies the eccentricity and inclination of orbits, while the  ν₈  secular resonance around   i ₀∼ 44°  pumps up the eccentricity. Both mechanisms lead to eccentric orbits and encounters with Uranus that introduce strong perturbation and drive the objects away from the Trojan like orbits. This explains the clearance of Trojan at high inclination  (>60°)  and an unstable gap around  44°  on the dynamical map. An empirical theory is derived from the numerical results, with which the main secular resonances are located on the initial plane of  ( a ₀, i ₀)  . The fine structures in the dynamical maps can be explained by these secular resonances.     

An analysis of the region of the Phocaea dynamical family

In this work, I conduct a preliminary analysis of the Phocaea family region. I obtain families and clumps in the space of proper elements and proper frequencies, study the taxonomy of the asteroids for which this information is available, analyse the albedo and absolute magnitude distribution of objects in the area, obtain a preliminary estimate of the possible family age, study the cumulative size distribution and collision probabilities of asteroids in the region, the rotation rate distribution and obtain dynamical map of averaged elements and Lyapunov times for grids of objects in the area.
Among my results, I identified the first clump visible only in the frequency domain, the (6246) Komurotoru clump, obtained a higher limit for the possible age of the Phocaea family of 2.2 Byr, identified a class of Phocaea members on Mars-crossing orbits characterized by high Lyapunov times and showed that an apparently stable region on time-scales of 20 Myr near the  ν₆  secular resonance is chaotic, possibly because of the overlapping of secular resonances in the region. The Phocaea dynamical group seems to be a real S-type collisional family, formed up to 2.2 Byr ago, whose members with a large semimajor axis have been dynamically eroded by the interaction with the local web of mean-motion and secular resonances. Studying the long-term stability of orbits in the chaotic regions and the stability of family and clumps identified in this work remain challenges for future works.     

Collisional velocities and rates in resonant planetesimal belts

We consider a belt of small bodies (planetesimals, asteroids, dust particles) around a star, captured in one of the external or 1:1 mean-motion resonances with a massive perturber (protoplanet, planet). The objects in the belt collide with each other. Combining methods of celestial mechanics and statistical physics, we calculate mean collisional velocities and mean collisional rates, averaged over the belt. The results are compared to collisional velocities and rates in a similar, but non-resonant belt, as predicted by the particle-in-a-box method. It is found that the effect of the resonant lock on the velocities is rather small, while on the rates more substantial. At low to moderate eccentricities and libration amplitudes of tens of degrees, which are typical of many astrophysical applications, the collisional rates between objects in an external resonance are by about a factor of two higher than those in a similar belt of objects not locked in a resonance. For Trojans under the same conditions, the collisional rates may be enhanced by up to an order of magnitude. The collisional rates increase with the decreasing libration amplitude of the resonant argument, depend on the eccentricity distribution of objects, and vary from one resonance to another. Our results imply, in particular, shorter collisional lifetimes of resonant Kuiper belt objects in the solar system and higher efficiency of dust production by resonant planetesimals in debris disks around other stars.     

Collective resonant phenomena on small bodies in the solar system

For both asteroids and meteor streams, and also for comets, resonances play a major role for their orbital evolutions but on different time scales. For asteroids both mean motion resonances and secular resonances not only structure the phase space of regular orbits but are mainly at the origin for the inherent chaos of planet crosser objects.For comets and their chaotic routes temporary trapping into orbital resonances is a well known phenomenon. In addition for slow diffusion through the Kuiper belt resonances are the only candidates for originating a slow chaos.Like for asteroids, resonances with Jupiter play a major role for the orbital evolution of meteor streams. Crossing of separatrix like zones appears to be crucial for the formation of arcs and for the dissolution of streams. In particular the orbital inclination of a meteor stream appears to be a critical parameter for arc formation. Numerical results obtained in an other context show that the competition between the Poynting-Robertson drag and the gravitational interaction of grains near the 2/1 resonance might be very important in the long run for the structure of meteor streams.     

The collisional and dynamical evolution of the main-belt and NEA size distributions

The size distribution of main belt of asteroids is determined primarily by collisional processes. Large asteroids break up and form smaller asteroids in a collisional cascade, with the outcome controlled by the strength-size relationship for asteroids. In addition to collisional processes, the non-collisional removal of asteroids from the main belt (and their insertion into the near-Earth asteroid (NEA) population) is critical, and involves several effects: strong resonances increase the orbital eccentricity of asteroids and cause them to enter the inner planet region; chaotic diffusion by numerous weak resonances causes a slow leak of asteroids into the Mars- and Earth-crossing populations; and the Yarkovsky effect, a radiation force on asteroids, is the primary process that drives asteroids into these resonant escape routes. Yarkovsky drift is size-dependent and can modify the main-belt size distribution. The NEA size distribution is primarily determined by its source, the main-belt population, and by the size-dependent processes that deliver bodies from the main belt. All of these effects are simulated in a numerical collisional evolution model that incorporates removal by non-collisional processes. We test our model against a wide range of observational constraints, such as the observed main-belt and NEA size distributions, the number of asteroid families, the preserved basaltic crust of Vesta and its large south-pole impact basin, the cosmic ray exposure ages of meteorites, and the cratering records on asteroids. We find a strength-size relationship for main-belt asteroids and non-collisional removal rates from the main belt such that our model fits these constraints as best as possible within the parameter space we explore. Our results are consistent with other independent estimates of strength and removal rates.     

Atlas of the mean motion resonances in the Solar System

The aim of this work is to present a systematic survey of the strength of the mean motion resonances (MMRs) in the Solar System. We know by applying simple formulas where the resonances with the planets are located but there is no indication of the strength that these resonances have. We propose a numerical method for the calculation of this strength and we present an atlas of the MMRs constructed with this method. We found there exist several resonances unexpectedly strong and we look and find in the small bodies population several bodies captured in these resonances. In particular in the inner Solar System we find one asteroid in the resonance 6:5 with Venus, five asteroids in resonance 1:2 with Venus, three asteroids in resonance 1:2 with Earth and six asteroids in resonance 2:5 with Earth. We find some new possible co-orbitals of Earth, Mars, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. We also present a discussion about the behavior of the resonant disturbing function and where the stable equilibrium points can be found at low and high inclination resonant orbits.     

Discovery and rediscovery of Trojan asteroids

During 1987–1994, observational campaigns with different telescopes at several observatories have been initiated by the author in order to discover new Trojans. The importance of Trojan asteroids comes from celestial mechanics, where they represent the physical solution of the famous Lagrange triangular problem. Their importance lies also in the fact, that they may have some relation with comets. Furthermore, the Trojan belt may be as large as the belt of asteroids. Moreover, recently “families” have been discovered between the already well known Trojans. Enough reasons to continue to search for these interesting objects.     

The nekhoroshev theorem and the asteroid belt dynamical system

The present paper reviews the Nekhoroshev theorem from the point of view of physicists and astronomers. We point out that Nekhoroshev result is strictly connected with the existence of a specific structure of the phase space, the existence of which can be checked with several numerical tools. This is true also for a degenerate system such as the one describing the motion of an asteroid in the so called main belt. The main difference is that in some parts of the belt, the Nekhoroshev result cannot apply a priori. Mean motion resonances of order smaller than the logarithm of the mass of Jupiter and first order secular resonances must be excluded. In the remaining parts, conversely, the Nekhoroshev theorem can be proved, provided someparameters, such as the masses, the eccentricities and the inclinations of the planets are small enough. At the light of this result, a massive campaign of numerical integrations of real and fictitious asteroids should allow to understand which is the real dynamical structure of the asteroid belt.     

Current important topics in solar system dynamics

This is a discussion and personal views on current important topics and methods in solar system dynamics. The topics include dynamical models, orbit resonance, planetary rings, chaos and secular evolution, motion of near-earth asteroids, the Kuiper belt, gravitational theory of the solar system and other related problems.     

Slow and Fast Diffusion in Asteroid-Belt Resonances: A Review

This paper reviews recent advances in several topics of resonant asteroidal dynamics as the role of resonances in the transportation of asteroids and asteroidal debris to the inner and outer solar system; the explanation of the contrast of a depleted 2/1 resonance (Hecuba gap) and a high-populated 3/2 resonance (Hilda group); the overall stochasticity created in the asteroid belt by the short-period perturbations of Jupiter's orbit, with emphasis in the formation of significant three-period resonances, the chaotic behaviour of the outer asteroid belt, and the depletion of the Hecuba gap. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Resonant structure of the outer asteroid belt

An analysis of ordered and chaotic regions of motion in the outer asteroid belt has shown that once the eccentricity of Jupiter is introduced the chaotic regions of the circular model are quite easily depleted. This suggests that also objects in neighbouring regions must be strongly perturbed. Therefore it is not surprising that many outer belt asteroids have been reported in the literature as resonant or anyway dynamically protected. By using the planar elliptic restricted 3-body model we have investigated the motion of outer belt asteroids which had not been suspected to librate. We find 3 cases of libration and 11 cases of e, coupling that can be explained within the theory of secular resonances. It is thus established that in the outer belt only resonant and dynamically protected asteroids can have lifetimes of the same order as the age of the Solar System.