Centaurs potentially in retrograde co-orbit resonance with Saturn

TL;DR

This study identifies potential Centaurs in retrograde 1/-1 co-orbit resonance with Saturn, revealing such bodies may be more common than previously thought and aiding understanding of their origins and evolution.

Contribution

The paper introduces a numerical method and a resonance approximation to identify and analyze Centaurs in retrograde co-orbit resonance with Saturn, a phenomenon not previously well documented.

Findings

Four Centaurs are potential candidates in 1/-1 resonance with Saturn.

High proportion of clones for some Centaurs are captured in long-term resonance.

Retrograde co-orbit resonance may be more common among small bodies than previously believed.

Abstract

Aims. 2015 BZ509 is the first asteroid confirmed to be in retrograde co-orbit resonance (or 1/-1 resonance) with the giant planets in the solar system. While Saturn is the only giant planet whose Trojans are not discovered until now, we identify some small bodies among Centaurs and Damocloids that are potentially in 1/-1 resonance with Saturn in the present study. Methods. We integrate numerically the motion of the 1000 clones (include the nominal orbit) of each Centaur whose orbit has a semi-major axis between 9.3 au and 9.8 au and an inclination i > 90 deg. To confirm and evaluate the 1/-1 resonant configurations mentioned above, we introduce a useful one-degree integrable approximation for planar 1/-1 resonance. Results. We identify four candidates potentially in 1/-1 resonance with Saturn. The capture in this particular resonant state during the 40000 yr integration timespan is very common for 2006 RJ2 (906/1000 clones), 2006 BZ8 (878/1000 clones), and 2017 SV13 (998/1000 clones), and it is less likely for 2012 YE8 (426/1000 clones). According to our statistical results, 2006 RJ2 is the best candidate to be currently in a 1/-1 mean motion resonance with Saturn, and 2017 SV13 is another important potential candidate. Moreover, 2012 YE8 and 2006 BZ8 are also Centaurs of interest but their current and long-term 1/-1 resonant state with Saturn is less likely. The proportions of the clones captured in the relative long-term stable co-orbit resonance (over 10000 yr) are also given. Conclusions. Small bodies in retrograde co-orbit resonance with giant planets may be more common than previously expected. Identification of these potential mysterious minor bodies encourages the search for such objects on a larger scale in our solar system. The findings of this paper are also useful for understanding the origin and dynamical evolution of the Centaurs and Damocloids on retrograde orbits.