2001 SN263 -- the contribution of their irregular shapes on the neighborhood dynamics

TL;DR

This study investigates how the irregular shapes of the triple asteroid system 2001 SN263 influence the stability of nearby orbits and the effects of solar radiation pressure on particles in different orbital configurations.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the role of asteroid irregularity on local dynamical stability and particle survivability, which is crucial for the upcoming Brazilian ASTER mission.

Findings

Irregular shapes significantly affect orbital stability around the system.

Prograde orbits are less stable than retrograde orbits.

Particles of 10-50 cm can survive solar radiation pressure in retrograde orbits.

Abstract

The first proposed Brazilian mission to deep space, the ASTER mission, has the triple asteroid system (153591) 2001 SN263 as a target. One of the mission's main goals is to analyze the physical and dynamical structures of the system to understand its origin and evolution. The present work aims to analyze how the asteroid's irregular shape interferes with the stability around the system. The results show that the irregular shape of the bodies plays an important role in the dynamics nearby the system. For instance, the perturbation due to the (153591) 2001 SN263 Alpha's shape affects the stability in the (153591) 2001 SN263 Gamma's vicinity. Similarly, the (153591) 2001 SN263 Beta's irregularity causes a significant instability in its nearby environment. As expected, the prograde case is the most unstable, while the retrograde scenario presents more stability. Additionally, we investigate how the solar radiation pressure perturbs particles of different sizes orbiting the triple system. We found that particles with a 10-50 cm radius could survive the radiation pressure for the retrograde case. Meanwhile, to resist solar radiation, the particles in prograde orbit must be larger than the particles in retrograde orbits, at least one order of magnitude.