Numerical investigations of the orbital dynamics around a synchronous binary system of asteroids

TL;DR

This paper investigates the orbital dynamics around a binary asteroid system, analyzing equilibrium points, periodic orbits, stability, and bifurcations using a dipole gravitational model and comparing with the classical RTBP.

Contribution

It introduces a dipole gravitational model for binary asteroids and analyzes the stability and bifurcations of periodic orbits near equilibrium points, extending the classical RTBP.

Findings

Families of periodic orbits are identified near equilibrium points.

Stability and bifurcation behaviors are characterized.

Results differ from classical RTBP, providing new insights into binary asteroid dynamics.

Abstract

In this article, equilibrium points and families of periodic orbits in the vicinity of the collinear equilibrium points of a binary asteroid system are investigated with respect to the angular velocity of the secondary body, the mass ratio of the system and the size of the secondary. We assume that the gravitational fields of the bodies are modeled assuming the primary as a mass point and the secondary as a rotating mass dipole. This model allows to compute families of planar and halo periodic orbits that emanate from the equilibrium points $ L_1 $ and $L_2$. The stability and bifurcations of these families are analyzed and the results are compared with the results obtained with the Restricted Three-Body Problem (RTBP). The results provide an overview of the dynamical behavior in the vicinity of a binary asteroid system.