Equilibrium Points and Orbits around Asteroid with the Full Gravitational Potential Caused by the 3D Irregular Shape

TL;DR

This paper analyzes equilibrium points and orbital stability around asteroid 1333 Cevenola considering its full 3D irregular gravitational potential, revealing five equilibrium points and conditions favoring stable moonlet orbits.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive method to compute equilibrium points and orbit stability around irregular-shaped asteroids using full gravitational potential calculations.

Findings

Five equilibrium points identified near 1333 Cevenola.

Outside equilibrium points exhibit staggered distribution.

Stable moonlet orbits are more likely with small inclination angles.

Abstract

We investigate the equilibrium points and orbits around asteroid 1333 Cevenola by considering the full gravitational potential caused by the 3D irregular shape. The gravitational potential and effective potential of asteroid 1333 Cevenola are calculated. The zero velocity curves for a massless particle orbiting in the gravitational environment have been discussed. The linearized dynamic equation, the characteristic equation, and the conserved quantity of the equilibria for the large size ratio binary asteroid system have been derived. It is found that there are totally five equilibrium points close to 1333 Cevenola. The topological cases of the outside equilibrium points have a staggered distribution. The simulation of orbits in the full gravitational potential caused by the 3D irregular shape of 1333 Cevenola shows that the moonlets orbit is more likely to be stable if the orbit inclination is small.