Related papers: Misaligned rings around minor planets with moons
By telescopic tracking, we have established that the orbit of the trans-neptunian object (2000 CR$_{105}$) has a perihelion of $\simeq$44 AU, and is thus outside the domain controlled by strong gravitational close encounters with Neptune.…
Cassini states correspond to equilibria of the spin axis of a body when its orbit is perturbed. They were initially described for satellites, but the spin axis of stars and planets undergoing strong dissipation can also evolve into some…
The Kepler Mission has detected dozens of compact planetary systems with more than four transiting planets. This sample provides a collection of close-packed planetary systems with relatively little spread in the inclination angles of the…
In addition to its suite of narrow dense rings, Uranus is surrounded by an extremely complex system of dusty rings that were most clearly seen by the Voyager spacecraft after it flew past the planet. A new analysis of the highest resolution…
Our understanding of the Solar System has been revolutionized over the past decade by the finding that the orbits of the planets are inherently chaotic. In extreme cases, chaotic motions can change the relative positions of the planets…
This article reviews the different mechanisms affecting the orbits of trans-Neptunian objects, ranging from internal perturbations (planetary scattering, mean-motion resonances, secular effects) to external perturbations (galactic tides,…
In recent years it has coming to light that the early outer Solar System likely might have somewhat more planets than today. However, to date there is unknown what a former giant planet might in fact have represented and where its orbit may…
When a planetary tidal disk -like Saturn's rings- spreads beyond the Roche radius (inside which planetary tides prevent aggregation), satellites form and migrate away. Here, we show that most regular satellites in the solar system probably…
We propose that the ``isolated'' planetary mass objects observed by Zapatero Osorio et al in the $\sigma$ Orionis cluster might actually be in orbit around invisible stellar mass companions such as mirror stars. Mirror matter is expected to…
Over the course of the past two decades, observational surveys have unveiled the intricate orbital structure of the Kuiper Belt, a field of icy bodies orbiting the Sun beyond Neptune. In addition to a host of readily-predictable orbital…
The richness of dynamical behavior exhibited by the rotational states of various solar system objects has driven significant advances in the theoretical understanding of their evolutionary histories. An important factor that determines…
Coorbital bodies are observed around the Sun sharing their orbits with the planets, but also in some pairs of satellites around Saturn. The existence of coorbital planets around other stars has also been proposed. For close-in planets and…
The identification of mean motion resonances in exoplanetary systems or in the Solar System might be cumbersome when several planets and large number of smaller bodies are to be considered. Based on the geometrical meaning of the resonance…
Detailed observational characterization of transiting exoplanet systems has revealed that the spin-axes of massive (M > ~1.2 solar masses) stars often exhibit substantial misalignments with respect to the orbits of the planets they host.…
Our investigation is motivated by the recent discovery of asteroids orbiting the Sun and simultaneously staying near one of the Solar System planets for a long time. This regime of motion is usually called the quasi-satellite regime, since…
The Sun's equator and the planets' orbital planes are nearly aligned, which is presumably a consequence of their formation from a single spinning gaseous disk. For exoplanetary systems this well-aligned configuration is not guaranteed:…
The equilibrium points of the gravitational potential field of minor celestial bodies, including asteroids, comets, and irregular satellites of planets, are studied. In order to understand better the orbital dynamics of massless particles…
We address the occurrence of narrow planetary rings and some of their structural properties, in particular when the rings are shepherded. We consider the problem as Hamiltonian {\it scattering} of a large number of non-interacting massless…
We show that short-term perturbations among massive planets in multiple planet systems can result in radial velocity variations of the central star which differ substantially from velocity variations derived assuming the planets are…
Small bodies of the Solar system, like asteroids, trans-Neptunian objects, cometary nuclei, planetary satellites, with diameters smaller than one thousand kilometers usually have irregular shapes, often resembling dumb-bells, or contact…