Orbit classification in the planar circular Pluto-Charon system

TL;DR

This study numerically analyzes the orbital dynamics in the Pluto-Charon system, revealing complex basin structures and fractal boundaries that depend on the orbital energy, with implications for spacecraft and small body trajectories.

Contribution

It provides a detailed numerical classification of orbit types and basin structures in the Pluto-Charon system, extending understanding of three-body dynamics in planetary systems.

Findings

High complexity and fractal basin boundaries in the system.

Strong dependence of basin properties on orbital energy.

Comparison with Saturn-Titan system results.

Abstract

We numerically investigate the orbital dynamics of a spacecraft, or a comet, or an asteroid in the Pluto-Charon system in a scattering region around Charon using the planar circular restricted three-body problem. The test particle can move in bounded orbits around Charon or escape through the necks around the Lagrangian points $L_1$ and $L_2$ or even collide with the surface of Charon. We explore four of the five possible Hill's regions configurations depending on the value of the Jacobi constant which is of course related with the total orbital energy. We conduct a thorough numerical analysis on the phase space mixing by classifying initial conditions of orbits and distinguishing between three types of motion: (i) bounded, (ii) escaping and (iii) collisional. In particular, we locate the different basins and we relate them with the corresponding spatial distributions of the escape and collision times. Our results reveal the high complexity of this planetary system. Furthermore, the numerical analysis shows a strong dependence of the properties of the considered basins with the total orbital energy, with a remarkable presence of fractal basin boundaries along all the regimes. Our results are compared with earlier ones regarding the Saturn-Titan planetary system.