Resonant dynamics of small satellites and particles in the inner Saturnian system

• Grant number: 20/06807-7
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: June 01, 2021
• End date: December 31, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Astronomy - Positional Astronomy and Celestial Mechanics
• Principal Investigator: Nelson Callegari Júnior
• Grantee: Nelson Callegari Júnior
• Host Institution: Instituto de Geociências e Ciências Exatas (IGCE). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Rio Claro. Rio Claro , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Adrian Rodriguez Colucci

Abstract

The main purpose of this project is to investigate the orbital dynamics of five Saturn's interior satellites discovered in the era of space probes and telescopes: Pan, Atlas, Aegaeon, Methone, Anthe and Pallene. These small bodies have average radii of a few kilometers, and suffer resonant gravitational perturbations from other larger satellites in the Saturn system, such as Prometheus, Pandora, Mimas and Enceladus. First, a detailed study of the fundamental frequencies that make up the orbits of the small bodies will be performed based on data from the Horizons ephemeris system provided by NASA (JPL). Then, modern nonlinear dynamics techniques will be applied to the global study of the resonance phase spaces, following Callegari & Yokoyama (2020; Icarus), developed and successfully applied to the satellite Anthe. In particular, the following resonances will be mapped: 15:14 Mimas-Methone, 19:16 Pallene-Enceladus, 16:15 Pan-Prometheus, 54:53 Atlas-Prometeus, 70:67 Pandora-Atlas and 7:6 Mimas-Aegaeon. Our studies on resonant dynamics will be applied to distinct more general problems involving the small satellites, like the very long-term orbital variations and stability, including clones of particles simulating the rings arcs of Aegaeon, Methone and Anthe; dynamics of rotation of small bodies corpos (Pan, Daphnis, Atlas, Aegaeon, Methone, Pallene); and scenarios of formation and evolution of small satellites and ring arcs. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

CALLEGARI JR, NELSON; RODRIGUEZ, ADRIAN; CECCATTO, DEMETRIO TADEU. The current orbit of Methone (S/2004 S 1). CELESTIAL MECHANICS & DYNAMICAL ASTRONOMY, v. 133, n. 11-12, DEC 2021. (20/06807-7, 19/15162-2)

RODRIGUEZ, ADRIAN; CALLEGARI, JR., N.. ynamical stability in the vicinity of Saturnian small moons: the cases of Aegaeon, Methone, Anthe, and Pallen. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, v. 506, n. 4, p. 5093-5107, OCT 2021. (20/06807-7)

CALLEGARI JR, NELSON; RODRIGUEZ, ADRIAN. The orbit of Aegaeon and the 7:6 Mimas-Aegaeon resonance. CELESTIAL MECHANICS & DYNAMICAL ASTRONOMY, v. 135, n. 2, p. 21-pg., 2023-04-01. (19/15162-2, 20/06807-7)