Detailed survey of the phase space around Nix and Hydra

TL;DR

This paper provides a detailed dynamical analysis of the phase space around Pluto's moons Nix and Hydra, using chaos indicators to identify stable regions and resonance structures, confirming previous findings and suggesting possible resonant states.

Contribution

It offers the first detailed stability maps of the Nix and Hydra orbits in the elliptic restricted three-body problem, highlighting potential resonant configurations and stability domains.

Findings

Nix's orbit may be in 4:1 resonance under certain conditions

Hydra is likely not in 6:1 resonance for arbitrary orbital angles

Stable orbital regions are identified around the moons

Abstract

We present a detailed survey of the dynamical structure of the phase space around the new moons of the Pluto - Charon system. The spatial elliptic restricted three-body problem was used as model and stability maps were created by chaos indicators. The orbital elements of the moons are in the stable domain both on the semimajor axis - eccentricity and - inclination spaces. The structures related to the 4:1 and 6:1 mean motion resonances are clearly visible on the maps. They do not contain the positions of the moons, confirming previous studies. We showed the possibility that Nix might be in the 4:1 resonance if its argument of pericenter or longitude of node falls in a certain range. The results strongly suggest that Hydra is not in the 6:1 resonance for arbitrary values of the argument of pericenter or longitude of node.