Statistics – Applications
Scientific paper
Jun 2006
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006dda....37.1604z&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, DDA meeting #37, #16.04
Statistics
Applications
Scientific paper
Voyager 2 discovered six small satellites orbiting near Neptune; Proteus and Larissa, the two largest and outermost ones, display larger eccentricities than average, as well as non-zero inclinations. These satellites formed in a thin debris disk resulting from the catastrophic destruction of the original Neptunian satellites shortly after the capture of Triton. The slim debris disk suggests that moonlet orbits should not acquire significant tilts at formation, and any initial eccentricities should damp away rapidly due to tides. Hence, the non-zero eccentricities and inclinations of these two satellites require an explanation.
We investigate the possibility of mean-motion resonance passages as an excitation mechanism for the orbital eccentricities and inclinations of Proteus and Larissa. The most recent strong resonance between these two satellites, the 2:1, is located only 600 km outside Larissa's orbit, or 900 km inside Proteus'. This resonance probably occurred only a few hundred million years ago. We find that not only is this resonance partially responsible for the current orbital shapes and orientations of the moons, but it also provides interesting constraints on their physical properties. Our study of this resonance limits the average density of the moons to 0.05 g/cc < ρ < 1.5 g/cc, and puts a lower limit on their tidal quality factors, which parameterize energy loss due to tides: Q > 10.
Through numerical simulations, we identify a new type of three-body resonance between the small satellite pair and Triton. These resonances occur near the traditional 2:1 mean-motion resonances and, surprisingly, are much stronger than their two-body counterparts, presumably due to Triton's large mass and orbital inclination. We derive a mathematical framework to analyze resonances in this system, and discuss applications to extra-Solar planetary systems.
Hamilton Douglas P.
Zhang Ke
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