On the co-orbital motion in the planar restricted three-body problem: the quasi-satellite motion revisited

TL;DR

This paper clarifies the nature of quasi-satellite motion in the planar restricted three-body problem, exploring its phase space, frequency characteristics, and special high eccentricity orbits, bridging different conceptual frameworks.

Contribution

It provides a detailed numerical analysis of quasi-satellite domains, clarifies terminology, and identifies unique high eccentricity frozen ellipse orbits in the three-body problem.

Findings

Quasi-satellite domain is not accessible at low eccentricities.

Quasi-satellite orbits are included within the retrograde satellite domain.

Identification of a high eccentricity frozen ellipse orbit.

Abstract

In the framework of the planar and circular restricted three-body problem, we consider an asteroid that orbits the Sun in quasi-satellite motion with a planet. A quasi-satellite trajectory is a heliocentric orbit in co-orbital resonance with the planet, characterized by a non zero eccentricity and a resonant angle that librates around zero. Likewise, in the rotating frame with the planet it describes the same trajectory as the one of a retrograde satellite even though the planet acts as a perturbator. In the last few years, the discoveries of asteroids in this type of motion made the term "quasi-satellite" more and more present in the literature. However, some authors rather use the term "retrograde satellite" when referring to this kind of motion in the studies of the restricted problem in the rotating frame. In this paper we intend to clarify the terminology to use, in order to bridge the gap between the perturbative co-orbital point of view and the more general approach in the rotating frame. Through a numerical exploration of the co-orbital phase space, we describe the quasi-satellite domain and highlight that it is not reachable by low eccentricities by averaging process. We will show that the quasi-satellite domain is effectively included in the domain of the retrograde satellites and neatly defined in terms of frequencies. Eventually, we highlight a remarkable high eccentric quasi-satellite orbit corresponding to a frozen ellipse in the heliocentric frame. We extend this result to the eccentric case (planet on an eccentric motion) and show that two families of frozen ellipses originate from this remarkable orbit.