A possible long-lived asteroid population at the equilateral Lagrangian points of Saturn

The Lagrangian equilateral points of a planetary orbit are points of equilibrium that trail at 60°, ahead (L4) or behind (L5), the trajectory of a planet. Jupiter is the only major planet in our Solar system harbouring a known population of asteroids at those locations. Here we report the existence...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales:	Melita, Mario Daniel, Brunini, Adrián
Formato:	Articulo
Lenguaje:	Inglés
Publicado:	2001
Materias:	Ciencias Astronómicas Celestial mechanics Minor planets, asteroids Planets and satellites: formation Solar system: formation
Acceso en línea:	http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/82963
Aporte de:	SEDICI (UNLP) de Universidad Nacional de La Plata

id	I19-R120-10915-82963
record_format	dspace
institution	Universidad Nacional de La Plata
institution_str	I-19
repository_str	R-120
collection	SEDICI (UNLP)
language	Inglés
topic	Ciencias Astronómicas Celestial mechanics Minor planets, asteroids Planets and satellites: formation Solar system: formation
spellingShingle	Ciencias Astronómicas Celestial mechanics Minor planets, asteroids Planets and satellites: formation Solar system: formation Melita, Mario Daniel Brunini, Adrián A possible long-lived asteroid population at the equilateral Lagrangian points of Saturn
topic_facet	Ciencias Astronómicas Celestial mechanics Minor planets, asteroids Planets and satellites: formation Solar system: formation
description	The Lagrangian equilateral points of a planetary orbit are points of equilibrium that trail at 60°, ahead (L4) or behind (L5), the trajectory of a planet. Jupiter is the only major planet in our Solar system harbouring a known population of asteroids at those locations. Here we report the existence of orbits close to the Lagrangian points of Saturn, stable at time-scales comparable to the age of the Solar system. By scaling with respect to the Trojan population we have estimated the number of objects that would populate the regions, which gives a significant figure. Moreover, mutual physical collisions over the age of the Solar system would be very rare, so the evaporation rate of this swarm arising from mutual interactions would be very low. A population of asteroids not self-collisionally evolved after their formation stage would be the first to be observed in our planetary system. Our present estimations are based on the assumption that the capture efficiency at Saturn's equilateral points is comparable with the one corresponding to Jupiter, thus our figures may be taken as upper limits. In any case, observational constraints on their number would provide fundamental clues to our understanding of the history of the outer Solar system. If they existed, the surface properties and size distribution of those objects would represent unusually valuable fossil records of our early planetary system.
format	Articulo Articulo
author	Melita, Mario Daniel Brunini, Adrián
author_facet	Melita, Mario Daniel Brunini, Adrián
author_sort	Melita, Mario Daniel
title	A possible long-lived asteroid population at the equilateral Lagrangian points of Saturn
title_short	A possible long-lived asteroid population at the equilateral Lagrangian points of Saturn
title_full	A possible long-lived asteroid population at the equilateral Lagrangian points of Saturn
title_fullStr	A possible long-lived asteroid population at the equilateral Lagrangian points of Saturn
title_full_unstemmed	A possible long-lived asteroid population at the equilateral Lagrangian points of Saturn
title_sort	possible long-lived asteroid population at the equilateral lagrangian points of saturn
publishDate	2001
url	http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/82963
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bdutipo_str	Repositorios
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A possible long-lived asteroid population at the equilateral Lagrangian points of Saturn

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