Determination of commensurabilities in the dynamics of the Pluto-Charon's satellites

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Main Authors: Desoubrie, Baptiste, Vienne, Alain
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Desoubrie, Baptiste
Vienne, Alain
author_facet Desoubrie, Baptiste
Vienne, Alain
contents The Pluto-Charon system is a binary system, characterised by its high mass ratio and its tidally locked synchronous orbit. Surrounding the central binary, four satellites - Styx, Nix, Kerberos and Hydra - follow near-circular and near equatorial orbits. Mutual tidal forces have probably a great influence on their long term dynamics. Several studies have pointed out some commensurabilities, sometimes using the fast Fourier transform technique. We intend to precisely identify the commensurabilities between the Pluto-Charon satellites, using the tool of fine frequency analysis, not only to investigate known commensurabilities but also to explore new ones. We used a combination of analytical and numerical approaches. The epicyclic theory of Lee and Peale served as an initial description of the motions and a comparative benchmark for numerical integrations. These integrations were performed using the IAS15 integrator within the N-body orbital integrator, REBOUND, considering both 3-body with the central binary and a single moon, and complete 6-body models. Additionally, we applied Frequency Map Analysis to determine precisely the numerical values of the system's fundamental frequencies. Our fine frequency analysis successfully identified all fundamental frequencies of the system, along with a detailed examination of the associated uncertainties. The findings, obtained with both 3-body and 6-body numerical models, align well with predictions from the epicyclic analytical theory. Notably, we highlight commensurabilities previously reported and introduce novel ones. Furthermore, we demonstrate how smooth alterations of the initial conditions can lead to the observation of libration in specific arguments, providing insights into the dynamical behavior of such a complex system.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2410_18302
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Determination of commensurabilities in the dynamics of the Pluto-Charon's satellites
Desoubrie, Baptiste
Vienne, Alain
Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
The Pluto-Charon system is a binary system, characterised by its high mass ratio and its tidally locked synchronous orbit. Surrounding the central binary, four satellites - Styx, Nix, Kerberos and Hydra - follow near-circular and near equatorial orbits. Mutual tidal forces have probably a great influence on their long term dynamics. Several studies have pointed out some commensurabilities, sometimes using the fast Fourier transform technique. We intend to precisely identify the commensurabilities between the Pluto-Charon satellites, using the tool of fine frequency analysis, not only to investigate known commensurabilities but also to explore new ones. We used a combination of analytical and numerical approaches. The epicyclic theory of Lee and Peale served as an initial description of the motions and a comparative benchmark for numerical integrations. These integrations were performed using the IAS15 integrator within the N-body orbital integrator, REBOUND, considering both 3-body with the central binary and a single moon, and complete 6-body models. Additionally, we applied Frequency Map Analysis to determine precisely the numerical values of the system's fundamental frequencies. Our fine frequency analysis successfully identified all fundamental frequencies of the system, along with a detailed examination of the associated uncertainties. The findings, obtained with both 3-body and 6-body numerical models, align well with predictions from the epicyclic analytical theory. Notably, we highlight commensurabilities previously reported and introduce novel ones. Furthermore, we demonstrate how smooth alterations of the initial conditions can lead to the observation of libration in specific arguments, providing insights into the dynamical behavior of such a complex system.
title Determination of commensurabilities in the dynamics of the Pluto-Charon's satellites
topic Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2410.18302