Centaur 2013 VZ70: Debris from Saturn's irregular moon population?
C. de la Fuente Marcos, R. de la Fuente Marcos

TL;DR
This paper investigates the dynamical behavior of centaur 2013 VZ70, confirming its transient horseshoe orbit with Saturn and exploring its potential origin from the irregular moon population, suggesting possible in situ formation.
Contribution
It provides the first detailed dynamical analysis of 2013 VZ70's orbit, revealing its transient co-orbital state and potential link to Saturn's irregular moons, especially the Inuit group.
Findings
2013 VZ70 is currently in a horseshoe resonant state with Saturn.
It may become a quasi-satellite or temporary irregular moon of Saturn.
Possible origin from in situ formation due to low-velocity encounters.
Abstract
Context. Saturn has an excess of irregular moons. This is thought to be the result of past collisional events. Debris produced during such episodes in the neighborhood of a host planet can evolve into co-orbitals trapped in quasi-satellite and/or horseshoe resonant states. A recently announced centaur, 2013 VZ70, follows an orbit that could be compatible with those of prograde Saturn's co-orbitals. Aims. We perform an exploration of the short-term dynamical evolution of 2013 VZ70 to confirm or reject a co-orbital relationship with Saturn. A possible connection with Saturn's irregular moon population is also investigated. Methods. We studied the evolution of 2013 VZ70 backward and forward in time using N-body simulations, factoring uncertainties into the calculations. We computed the distribution of mutual nodal distances between this centaur and a sample of moons. Results. We…
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