Polar orbits around the newly formed Earth-Moon binary system
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arXiv
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2024
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| _version_ | 1866929419706171392 |
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| author | Lepp, Stephen Martin, Rebecca G. Baronett, Stanley A. |
| author_facet | Lepp, Stephen Martin, Rebecca G. Baronett, Stanley A. |
| contents | We examine the dynamics and stability of circumbinary particles orbiting around the Earth-Moon binary system. The moon formed close to the Earth (semi-major axis $a_{EM}\approx 3\, R_\oplus$) and expanded through tides to its current day semi-major axis ($a_{ EM}= 60\, R_\oplus$). Circumbinary orbits that are polar or highly inclined to the Earth-Moon orbit are subject to two competing effects: (i) nodal precession about the Earth-Moon eccentricity vector and (ii) Kozai-Lidov oscillations of eccentricity and inclination driven by the Sun. While we find that there are no stable polar orbits around the Earth-Moon orbit with the current day semi-major axis, polar orbits were stable immediately after the formation of the Moon, at the time when there was a lot of debris around the system, up to when the semi-major axis reached about $a_{ EM}\approx 10\, R_\oplus$. We discuss implications of polar orbits on the evolution of the Earth-Moon system and the possibility of polar orbiting moons around exoplanet-moon binaries. |
| format | Preprint |
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arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2407_09701 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Polar orbits around the newly formed Earth-Moon binary system Lepp, Stephen Martin, Rebecca G. Baronett, Stanley A. Earth and Planetary Astrophysics We examine the dynamics and stability of circumbinary particles orbiting around the Earth-Moon binary system. The moon formed close to the Earth (semi-major axis $a_{EM}\approx 3\, R_\oplus$) and expanded through tides to its current day semi-major axis ($a_{ EM}= 60\, R_\oplus$). Circumbinary orbits that are polar or highly inclined to the Earth-Moon orbit are subject to two competing effects: (i) nodal precession about the Earth-Moon eccentricity vector and (ii) Kozai-Lidov oscillations of eccentricity and inclination driven by the Sun. While we find that there are no stable polar orbits around the Earth-Moon orbit with the current day semi-major axis, polar orbits were stable immediately after the formation of the Moon, at the time when there was a lot of debris around the system, up to when the semi-major axis reached about $a_{ EM}\approx 10\, R_\oplus$. We discuss implications of polar orbits on the evolution of the Earth-Moon system and the possibility of polar orbiting moons around exoplanet-moon binaries. |
| title | Polar orbits around the newly formed Earth-Moon binary system |
| topic | Earth and Planetary Astrophysics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2407.09701 |