Can Neptune's Distant Mean-Motion Resonances Constrain Undiscovered Planets in the Solar System? Lessons from a Case Study of the 9:1
The Planetary Science Journal(2024)
摘要
Recent observational surveys of the outer Solar System provide evidence that
Neptune's distant n:1 mean-motion resonances may harbor relatively large
reservoirs of trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs). In particular, the discovery of
two securely classified 9:1 resonators, 2015 KE_172 and 2007 TC_434, by
the Outer Solar System Origins Survey is consistent with a population of order
10^4 such objects in the 9:1 resonance with absolute magnitude H_r < 8.66.
This work investigates whether the long-term stability of such populations in
Neptune's n:1 resonances can be used to constrain the existence of distant
5-10M_⊕ planets orbiting at hundreds of AU. The existence of such a
planet has been proposed to explain a reported clustering in the orbits of
highly eccentric "extreme" trans-Neptunian objects (eTNOs), although this
hypothesis remains controversial. We engage in a focused computational
case-study of the 9:1 resonance, generating synthetic populations and
integrating them for 1 Gyr in the presence of 81 different test planets with
various masses, perihelion distances, eccentricities, and inclinations. While
none of the tested planets are incompatible with the existence of 9:1
resonators, our integrations shed light on the character of the interaction
between such planets and nearby n:1 resonances, and we use this knowledge to
construct a simple, heuristic method for determining whether or not a given
planet could destabilize a given resonant population. We apply this method to
the currently estimated properties of Planet 9, and find that a large
primordial population in the 15:1 resonance (or beyond), if discovered in the
future, could potentially constrain the existence of this planet.
更多查看译文
关键词
Solar system,Small Solar System bodies,Orbits,Orbital resonances,Solar system planets,Trans-Neptunian objects
AI 理解论文
溯源树
样例
生成溯源树,研究论文发展脉络
Chat Paper
正在生成论文摘要