Astronomy19 papers
Mean-motion resonances in the Solar system
A curated collection of essential papers on mean-motion resonances in the asteroid belt, TNO, and beyond.
ES
Evgeny Smirnov
All Reviews
AstronomyNiche
advanced
Atlas of three body mean motion resonances in the Solar System
Tabaré Gallardo (2014)
- Published
- Mar 1, 2014
- Journal
- Icarus · Vol. 231
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.icarus.2013.12.020
At a GlanceAI
Numerical atlas maps strengths and locations of thousands of three-body resonances across 0–1000 au, highlighting key chaotic zones.
SummaryAI
This paper introduces a practical numerical way to estimate the relative strength of arbitrary three-body mean-motion resonances between a small body and two planets, enabling a Solar System–wide “atlas” of where such resonances lie and how important they are. Beyond confirming the known dynamical role of Jupiter–Saturn three-body resonances in the asteroid belt, it reveals strong resonance families elsewhere—especially a surprisingly strong Uranus–Neptune series in the far trans-Neptunian region and notable terrestrial–giant-planet resonances near 1 au. The atlas also quantifies resonance density versus heliocentric distance, suggesting where resonance overlap and chaos are more likely, and it provides a workflow to identify which three-body resonance affects a specific object (e.g., 2009 SJ18; Chariklo).
Method SnapshotAI
Computes a resonance-strength proxy by numerically averaging perturbation-induced changes to the disturbing function over resonant phase-space configurations for circular, coplanar planets.
BackgroundAI
Celestial mechanics background: mean-motion resonances, disturbing function ideas, and basic orbital elements/dynamical stability concepts.
An attempt to theoretically measure the strength of a resonance. A decent approximation, but real asteroids may often not be in strong resonances.
— ES