Open AccessStationary orbits of comets perturbed by Galactic tides
Author(s) -
Breiter S.,
Fouchard M.,
Ratajczak R.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
monthly notices of the royal astronomical society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.058
H-Index - 383
eISSN - 1365-2966
pISSN - 0035-8711
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2007.12521.x
Subject(s) - physics , eccentricity (behavior) , galaxy , celestial mechanics , galactic tide , longitude , plane (geometry) , astrophysics , galactic plane , classical mechanics , lyapunov function , right ascension , astronomy , geometry , galactic halo , latitude , nonlinear system , mathematics , halo , quantum mechanics , political science , law , declination
Using the first‐order normalized equations describing the heliocentric cometary motion perturbed by the Galactic tides, we identify ‘stationary solutions’ with constant values of the eccentricity, inclination, argument of perihelion and longitude of the ascending node in the reference frame rotating with the Galaxy. The families found involve circular orbits, orbits in the Galactic equatorial plane, rectilinear orbits normal to the equatorial plane, elliptic orbits symmetric with respect to the direction to the Galactic Centre or to its perpendicular, and asymmetrically oriented elliptic orbits. Linear stability of the stationary solution is studied analytically and confirmed by numerical experiments. Most, but not all, of the unstable solutions prove chaotic with the Lyapunov times at least 100 Myr.