ELKH and ELTE specialists also discovered two new families of resonant asteroids.
Using computer modeling, the colleagues of the Eötvös Loránd Research Network-Eötvös Loránd University (ELKH-ELTE) Astropolarimetry Research Group found an explanation for the possible formation mechanism of the asteroid families orbiting the Sun in a certain mean-motion resonance with Jupiter in the Sun-Jupiter system.
According to the explanation, the combined gravity of the Sun and Jupiter often drives asteroids orbiting the Sun and all other low-mass celestial bodies into orbits with regular geometric shapes. The researchers also discovered two new families of resonant asteroids. The study presenting the results was published in Acta Astronautica, the official periodical of the International Astronautical Academy.
The formation mechanism of the different resonance families of asteroids in the asteroid belt between Jupiter and Mars is not fully understood. The colleagues of the ELKH-ELTE Astropolarimetry Research Group, Judit Slíz-Balogh, Dániel Horváth and Gábor Horváth studied a possible new capture mechanism of the asteroid families orbiting the Sun in mean-motion resonance with Jupiter by computer modeling the three-dimensional semi-analytical celestial mechanics model of the Sun-Jupiter system.
The research is carried out as part of the tender ELKH-ELTE-0116607 (Construction of a portable imaging polarimeter astronomical telescope and its applications in areas of the Earth with a favorable astroclimate, with special regard to the Kordylewski dust moons).
