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The New Horizons space probe led the first close flyby of one of the mostprimordial and distant objects left over from the formation of the solarsystem, the contact binary Kuiper Belt object (486958) Arrokoth, which iscomposed of two progenitors, the lobes nicknamed Ultima and Thule. In thecurrent work, we investigated Arrokoth's surface in detail to identify thelocation of equilibrium points and also explore each lobe's individual dynamicfeatures. We assume Arrokoth's irregular shape as a homogeneous polyhedracontact binary. We numerically explore its dynamic characteristics by computingits irregular binary geopotential to study its quantities, such as geometricheight, oblateness, ellipticity, and zero-power curves. The stability ofArrokoth Hill was also explored through zero-velocity curves. Arrokoth'sexternal equilibrium points have no radial symmetry due to its highly irregularshape. We identified even equilibrium points concerning its shape and spinrate: i.e., four unstable external equilibrium points and three innerequilibrium points, where two points are linearly stable, with an unstablecentral point that has a slight offset from its centroid. Moreover, the largeand small lobes each have five equilibrium points with different topologicalstructures from those found in Arrokoth. Our results also indicate that theequatorial region of Arrokoth's lobes is an unstable area due to the highrotation period, while its polar locations are stable resting sites for surfaceparticles. Finally, the zero-power curves indicate the locations aroundArrokoth where massless particles experience enhancing and receding orbitalenergy.

Surface Dynamics, Equilibrium Points and Individual Lobes of the Kuiper Belt Object (486958) Arrokoth