On the Sun-shadow dynamics

TL;DR

This paper studies the complex motion of a satellite affected by solar radiation and Earth's shadow, proving the existence of periodic orbits, analyzing the dynamics via a Poincaré map, and revealing both regular and chaotic behaviors.

Contribution

It introduces a novel Sun-shadow dynamics model combining Kepler and Stark effects, proves the existence of brake-type periodic orbits, and analyzes the system's invariant manifolds and chaotic features.

Findings

Existence of brake-type periodic orbits.

Identification of regular and chaotic regions in the dynamics.

Construction of invariant manifolds for hyperbolic fixed points.

Abstract

We investigate the planar motion of a mass particle in a force field defined by patching Kepler's and Stark's dynamics. This model is called Sun-shadow dynamics, referring to the motion of an Earth satellite perturbed by the solar radiation pressure and considering the Earth shadow effect. The existence of periodic orbits of brake type is proved, and the Sun-shadow dynamics is investigated by means of a Poincare'-like map defined by a quantity that is not conserved along the flow. We also present the results of our numerical investigations on some properties of the map. Moreover, we construct the invariant manifolds of the hyperbolic fixed points related to the periodic orbits of brake type. The global picture of the map shows evidence of regular and chaotic behaviour.