Astronomy7 papers
Dynamics of Near Earth Objects
A curated collection of fundamental papers on the dynamics of Near-Earth Objects.
VC
Valerio Carruba
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Dynamical evolution of NEAs: Close encounters, secular perturbations and resonances
Patrick Michel et al. (1996)
- Published
- Feb 1, 1996
- Journal
- Earth, Moon, and Planets · Vol. 72 · No. 1-3
- DOI
- 10.1007/BF00117513
At a GlanceAI
Integrations of Toutatis show Earth encounters can switch NEAs between resonances, enabling rapid eccentricity growth beyond Tisserand-like limits.
SummaryAI
Using 1 Myr integrations of (4179) Toutatis under progressively more complete planet models, the paper shows NEA evolution is shaped by the coupled dynamics of close encounters and resonances rather than by either alone. Earth-only dynamics looks like an encounter-driven random walk in (a,e) that approximately conserves perihelion distance and the Earth Tisserand invariant, but adding Jupiter–Saturn introduces mean-motion and secular resonances that drive large, fast eccentricity changes at nearly fixed semimajor axis. In the full (Earth+Jupiter+Saturn) model, close encounters kick the asteroid between different resonant states (e.g., 3/1 and 4/1 MMRs plus ν5/ν6-type secular behavior), breaking approximate Tisserand conservation and creating “fast-track” routes from modest-e to extreme-e planet-crossing orbits. The implication is that simplified statistical NEA models based mainly on encounter-driven diffusion and fixed-location resonances can miss key timescales and pathways, especially those dominated by resonance-driven eccentricity pumping and resonance switching.
Method SnapshotAI
Compare long-term Bulirsch–Stoer N-body integrations of the same NEA under three simplified planetary architectures to isolate encounters vs. secular/MMR resonance effects.
BackgroundAI
Background in celestial mechanics of small bodies—close-encounter dynamics, secular theory, and mean-motion/secular resonances.
Interesting to isolate encounters vs. secular/MMR resonance effects.
— VC