On the co-orbital asteroids in the solar system: medium-term timescale analysis of the quasi-coplanar objects

TL;DR

This study analyzes the distribution and dynamics of co-orbital asteroids with Venus, Earth, and Jupiter over 900 years using an integrable model and ephemerides data, providing a comprehensive catalog and insights into their transitions.

Contribution

It introduces a novel integrable model and bi-dimensional map to classify and study co-orbital asteroid regimes and transitions over medium-term timescales.

Findings

Defined domains for quasi-satellite, horseshoe, and tadpole motions.

Cataloged co-orbital asteroids and their transition behaviors.

Provided a new tool for analyzing co-orbital dynamics.

Abstract

The focus of this work is the current distribution of asteroids in co-orbital motion with Venus, Earth and Jupiter, under a quasi-coplanar configuration and for a medium-term timescale of the order of 900 years. A co-orbital trajectory is a heliocentric orbit trapped in a 1:1 mean-motion resonance with a given planet. As such, to model it this work considers the Restricted Three-Body Problem in the circular-planar case with the help of averaging techniques. The domain of each co-orbital regime, that is, the quasi-satellite motion, the horseshoe motion and the tadpole motion, can be neatly defined by means of an integrable model and a simple bi-dimensional map, that is invariant with respect to the mass parameter of the planet, and turns out to be a remarkable tool to investigate the distribution of the co-orbitals objects of interest. The study is based on the data corresponding to the ephemerides computed by the JPL Horizons system for asteroids with a sufficient low orbital inclination with respect to the Sun-planet orbital plane. These objects are cataloged according to their current dynamics, together with the transitions that occur in the given time frame from a given type of co-orbital motion to another. The results provide a general catalog of co-orbital asteroids in the solar system, the first one to our knowledge, and an efficient mean to study transitions.