The Doubly Librating Plutinos
Named for orbital kinship with Pluto, the Plutinos are a prominent group of Kuiper Belt objects whose orbital periods are in libration about a 3/2 ratio with Neptune’s. We investigate the long-term orbital dynamics of known Plutinos, with attention to the additional libration (or lack thereof) of th...
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IOP Publishing
2025-01-01
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| Series: | The Astrophysical Journal |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/adacd9 |
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| author | Renu Malhotra Takashi Ito |
| author_facet | Renu Malhotra Takashi Ito |
| author_sort | Renu Malhotra |
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| description | Named for orbital kinship with Pluto, the Plutinos are a prominent group of Kuiper Belt objects whose orbital periods are in libration about a 3/2 ratio with Neptune’s. We investigate the long-term orbital dynamics of known Plutinos, with attention to the additional libration (or lack thereof) of their argument of perihelion, g , a well-known characteristic of Pluto’s orbit. We show that the g librators among the Plutinos cluster around an arc in the eccentricity–inclination parameter plane. This previously unreported dynamical structure is owed to a family of periodic orbits of the third kind in the restricted problem of three bodies, identified by Poincaré at the end of the 19th century. Approximately 16% of the currently known Plutinos exhibit g librations, a far greater fraction than the ratios of the associated libration frequencies. These results may offer new constraints for theoretical models of the dynamical history of the Plutinos and of the orbital migration history of the giant planets. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-325efc242b2b43778a975dda2c3f5864 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1538-4357 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
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| series | The Astrophysical Journal |
| spelling | doaj-art-325efc242b2b43778a975dda2c3f58642025-02-07T07:46:45ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal1538-43572025-01-01980111510.3847/1538-4357/adacd9The Doubly Librating PlutinosRenu Malhotra0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1226-3305Takashi Ito1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0549-9002The University of Arizona , 1629 E University Boulevard, Tucson, AZ 85718, USANational Astronomical Observatory , Osawa 2–21–1 Mitaka, Tokyo 181–8588, JapanNamed for orbital kinship with Pluto, the Plutinos are a prominent group of Kuiper Belt objects whose orbital periods are in libration about a 3/2 ratio with Neptune’s. We investigate the long-term orbital dynamics of known Plutinos, with attention to the additional libration (or lack thereof) of their argument of perihelion, g , a well-known characteristic of Pluto’s orbit. We show that the g librators among the Plutinos cluster around an arc in the eccentricity–inclination parameter plane. This previously unreported dynamical structure is owed to a family of periodic orbits of the third kind in the restricted problem of three bodies, identified by Poincaré at the end of the 19th century. Approximately 16% of the currently known Plutinos exhibit g librations, a far greater fraction than the ratios of the associated libration frequencies. These results may offer new constraints for theoretical models of the dynamical history of the Plutinos and of the orbital migration history of the giant planets.https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/adacd9PlutinosPlutoResonant Kuiper belt objectsTrans-Neptunian objectsSmall Solar System bodiesOrbital resonances |
| spellingShingle | Renu Malhotra Takashi Ito The Doubly Librating Plutinos The Astrophysical Journal Plutinos Pluto Resonant Kuiper belt objects Trans-Neptunian objects Small Solar System bodies Orbital resonances |
| title | The Doubly Librating Plutinos |
| title_full | The Doubly Librating Plutinos |
| title_fullStr | The Doubly Librating Plutinos |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Doubly Librating Plutinos |
| title_short | The Doubly Librating Plutinos |
| title_sort | doubly librating plutinos |
| topic | Plutinos Pluto Resonant Kuiper belt objects Trans-Neptunian objects Small Solar System bodies Orbital resonances |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/adacd9 |
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