News on HILDA ASTEROIDS, Part 2

      by  Joachim Schubart, Astron.Rechen-Institut, Heidelberg, Germany

The present Part 2 is a continuation of the earlier file News on HILDA ASTEROIDS, here called Part 1.
Since the introduction of Part 1 gives the necessary explanations and formulas, the introduction of Part 2 can be brief.



Index

1. Introduction

2. Another Resonance in the Resonance

3. Parameters and Period of Libration

4. Low-Eccentricity Hildas and the Jupiter-Saturn Resonance

5. References: The papers by Schubart are available in the Internet

1. Introduction

The present Part 2 mainly gives theoretical explanations for special effects in the evolution of Hilda-type orbits studied in Part 1. Continued numerical studies have led to the identification of Jupiter-Saturn-asteroid resonances, that act on part of the orbits and give rise to the special effects. The subject of "Three-Body Resonances inside two-body mean motion resonances" is well introduced in A. Morbidelli's textbook "Modern Celestial Mechanics, Aspects of Solar System Dynamics" (London 2002), but the special types described in two of the following sections are apparently new.

Typical Hilda asteroids are captured in the 3/2 resonance of mean motion with respect to Jupiter and show libration of an angular argument about 0 deg. In numerical studies on the long-period evolution of Hilda-type orbits Schubart (1982, 1991) has introduced three parameters that appear to characterize an orbit during very long intervals of time, in analogy to the proper elements of orbits of non-resonant asteroids. Here the abbreviations for the 3 characteristic parameters of Schubart(1982) are:
              Epm, Ip, and Ampl.

Epm and Ip are special parameters for the Hilda-type resonance. Epm is related to the variations of eccentricity, in analogy to a proper eccentricity of non- resonant motion. Ip is called proper inclination. The third parameter, Ampl, gives the mean amplitude of a special librating angular argument, crarg'. This argument differs from the usual definition of the critical argument of the 3/2 resonance due to the application of a transformation described in Part 1.

The Appendix of Part 1 lists the values of Epm and Ampl of 347 Hilda orbits. Most of these values have resulted from a suitable computer program and from basic integrations over an extended interval. However, tests with parts of this interval have indicated an uncertainty of some values of Ampl near 60 deg. The next section offers an explanation for this effect by an additional resonance that is similar in type to the three-body resonances of the main belt of asteroids. Now a revised version of the program mentioned before allows the derivation of the length of the period of libration of crarg' together with the values of Epm and Ampl. Section 3 shows a result. Section 4 describes a resonance relation that corresponds to a near commensurability between the periods of the great inequalities of Jupiter and Saturn and an asteroidal period that depends on the period of libration and on the period of the revolution of a transformed longitude of perihelion.

2. Another Resonance in the Resonance

Remarks on Section 2 inserted in May 2007: Due to the simple model of the forces and to other simplifications, the following results are not final, but qualitatively correct in case of (1578) Kirkwood and in other cases. However, the indicated evolution of the orbit of (38553) is not confirmed by a more accurate model of the forces. A more rigorous treatment of the subject appears in J.Schubart's paper "Additional Effects of Resonance in Hilda-Asteroid Orbits by the combined Action of Jupiter and Saturn", Icarus 188, pp. 189-194, May 2007. In the following text the frequency n represents a mean value of the mean motion of the asteroid with respect to the period of libration of crarg'.


Some of the values of Ampl listed in the Appendix of Part 1 appear at lower accuracy, since results from a basic interval of integration of about 23000 yr and from 1/3 or 1/2 of this interval differ by 2 or 3 deg in such unusual cases. Almost all of these cases correspond to values of Ampl near 60 deg. (499) Venusia and (1578) Kirkwood represent such cases. Now the study of their orbits and of some other cases has led to the discovery of another type of resonance in the resonance. Contrary to the well-known secondary resonances that involve the period of libration of crarg' and the long periods arising from the motion of perihelion and node, now a linear combination of the orbital frequencies of asteroid and perturbing planets is commensurable to the frequency of the period of libration.

The study started with an extension of the basic numerical integration on (499) and (1578) to an interval of about 120 000 yr centered at the present time. As before, sun, Jupiter, Saturn, and the two asteroids are the attracting or moving bodies in a simultaneous integration. Sets of elements, stored at evenly spaced intervals, allow the derivation of crarg' of an asteroid as a function of time. Digital filtering isolates the effects by the period of libration, and a plot versus time shows the resulting oscillation of crarg' and the interesting changes of amplitude in each case. The circulation of lp - lpj, the difference of the longitudes of perihelion of asteroid and Jupiter, causes a comparatively small effect in amplitude, but long-period changes in amplitude between about 56 and 63 deg are irregular and follow variable periods between 20000 to 40000 yr about in both cases. These long-period effects disappear, if the attraction of Saturn is neglected.

After a break, the study has continued in early 2005. Considering the possibility that a resonance acts on asteroids with Ampl near 60 deg, I have isolated by digital filtering the frequencies that rule the variations of the semi-major axis of (1578) in the simplified model of the restricted three-body problem. ncr, the frequency of the period of libration of crarg', n-nj, the difference of the mean motions of asteroid and Jupiter that corresponds to the relative circulation in longitude, and linear combinations of these two frequencies have appeared in this way. When I changed these values of frequency to the respective periods, almost instantly I realized that a period of about 20 yr derived from n - nj + 2 ncr nearly equals the period of the relative revolution of Jupiter with respect to the direction sun - Saturn. The frequency of this period is given by nj-ns, the difference of the mean motions of Jupiter and Saturn. Returning to the original sun - Jupiter - Saturn integration, I was able to confirm the approximate relation nj - ns = n - nj +2 ncr in higher accuracy. This means:

                 2 ncr = (nj-ns) - (n-nj)

is nearly valid. I confirmed this for (499) Venusia as well. A resonance, similar in type to the three-body resonances of the main belt of asteroids, is indicated, but the frequency of the period of libration is present in the relation.

Now I had to look for a connection between this resonance and the long-period changes of the amplitude of crarg' that I had observed before in the way described above. It is possible to demonstrate the effect by the resonance on an asteroid in a graph. Let lm, lmj, and lms be the mean longitudes of asteroid, Jupiter, and Saturn, respectively, and TL be the period of libration of crarg'. Then TL/2 is close to the period of circulation of phi, if
                  phi = 2 lmj - lm - lms .

crarg' librates about 0 and passes the vicinity of 0 twice during one cycle of TL, so that these passages are separated in time by TL/2, and the values of phi at subsequent passages will be close to each other. phi0 designates a value of phi found during such a passage, if the absolute value of crarg' does not exceed a given small limit. In a plot of phi0 versus time the dots show scattering about a mean curve, that demonstrates the near equality of TL/2 and the period of circulation of phi. By the variations of very long period, this curve characterizes the relation of an asteroid to the additional resonance. In Fig.1 the variation of phi0 of (1578) is shown with respect to a scale in degrees and plotted versus time in millenia.

Fig.1

Fig.1: phi0 of (1578) versus time. The libration of phi0 about the level 180 deg, indicated by a straight line, is an effect of an additional resonance that is similar in type to the three-body resonances of the main belt. The superimposed oscillations follow the period of circulation of the longitude of perihelion with respect to that of Jupiter. The amplitude of these oscillations is ruled by the secular changes of the eccentricity of Jupiter.

Fig.1 has resulted from the forward computation on (1578) and shows a long-period libration of phi0 about 180 deg with variable amplitude, together with effects by the period of circulation of lp-lpj. The libration turns out to be temporary, since according to the backward integration of (1578) phi0 can cross the unstable level of 0 or 360 deg and show circulation. In case of (499) the forward integration shows one half of a cycle of libration that is followed by circulation of phi0, but only libration of phi0 about 180 deg results from the backward computation. An influence of the long-lasting secular increase or decrease of the eccentricity of Jupiter on the amplitude of the observed libration of phi0, or on the changes between libration and circulation, is indicated. However, the variations of phi0 and the observed effects in the amplitude of crarg' are clearly correlated in all studied cases: Neglect the superimposed oscillations as shown in Fig.1 and compare the long-period variations of phi0 with the observed long-period effects in the amplitude of crarg'. If phi0 passes the level of 180 deg in the downward or upward direction, a maximum or minimum of these effects in the amplitude of crarg' occurs, respectively. Less important extremes occur, if phi0 crosses the 0 or 360 deg level during circulation. According to this, the observed long-period variations in the amplitude of crarg' are an effect of the considered resonance.

A non-quasiperiodic evolution is evident in case of orbits with changes between libration and circulation of phi0. In spite of this, a rough guess about a proper parameter Ampl for such cases is worth an attempt. I assume that plots as mentioned above show the long-period variations of the amplitude of crarg' versus time. For Ampl of such an orbit, I shall use a round mean value of the maximum and minimum of these variations shown in a plot that corresponds to an interval with libration of phi0, although intervals with circulation of phi0 in either the upward or the downward direction will show different mean values. Much more extended integrations are necessary to find out whether such a guess is meaningful. For (499) and (1578) I shall use Ampl = 60 deg.

I have examined some other Hildas with numbers less than 40000 for effects by the additional resonance. (21804) Vaclavneumann again shows changes between libration and circulation of phi0. Since it is a case of analogy to (499), I use Ampl = 60 deg. Two other objects, (23405) Nisyros and (39382) Opportunity, perform about one and a half cycle of libration of phi0 about 180 deg during the interval of 60000 yr of a forward integration. The amplitudes are similar to the ones shown in the central part of Fig.1, but there is no indication of large changes of these amplitudes. I propose 63 for Ampl of (23405) and 60 for (39382). Comparing these and the preceding values of Ampl with the respective round values in the Appendix of Part 1, I find no difference of more than one degree.

I have found more Hildas with a strong relation to the additional resonance: (37578) and (38553). According to a forward integration covering 48000 yr, phi0 of these asteroids passes the 180 deg level after about 10000 yr, but later on the mean variations of phi0 of both objects become very slow in a gradual approach to the unstable level of 0 or 360 deg. After this approach, that lasts about 10000 yr, phi0 of (37578) shows libration by a return to 180 deg, but phi0 of (38553) has crossed the 360 deg level, showing circulation. I use Ampl = 61 for (37578) and propose 60 for (38553), since I assume that this object can show temporary libration of phi0 as well. For these two cases the procedure of Part 1 did not signal an uncertainty in the determination of Ampl, and the values proposed here differ by about 2.5 deg from those of Part 1.

I have studied (1202) Marina by a forward integration over 48000 yr, since it is a representative of Hildas in the vicinity of the additional resonance, but not in the central domain with temporary libration of phi0. In this case phi0 circulates and passes the 180 deg level every 15000 yr in the downward direction. A small effect in the amplitude of crarg' corresponds to this comparatively fast circulation. The procedure of Part 1 appears as suitable for such cases, the value Ampl = 65 deg of (1202) is confirmed by the more extended integration. However, a value of Ampl given in Part 1 is possibly uncertain, if a Hilda resembles (499) or (23405), for instance, in all the values of Epm, Ampl, and TL. The next section presents these values for many objects with numbers less than 40000.

3. Parameters and Period of Libration

The first part of the list about Epm and Ampl given in the Appendix of Part 1 is repeated below, but with an extension: The length of the period of libration of crarg', TL , appears together with the values shown in Part 1 for Hilda-type orbits with numbers less than 40000 and Epm greater than 0.090. TL is a mean value derived from an interval of about 23000 yr. The constant k is introduced in Part 1.

Most of the values have resulted from a computer program, that now gives values of TL as well, unless Ampl is small. Therefore, no value of TL appears in some cases. The appendix of Part 1 gives further details on the program and the derivation of Epm and Ampl.
Reliable values of proper inclination of most Hildas appear together with values of the Maximum Lyapunov Characteristic Exponent (LCE) in a list of synthetic proper elements computed by Z. Knezevic and A.Milani, and presented as part of their AstDys file.

Some of the values of Ampl are integer numbers. This indicates the presence of small, slowly acting effects in the amplitude of crarg' that appear in results from long-period integrations and cause uncertainty in an estimate of Ampl. All but one of these cases are studied in Section 2, and estimates of Ampl adopted there are inserted in the present list, together with round values of Epm and TL.
(38613) is a special case. The period of libration is comparatively large and variable. Eight times its mean value approximately equals the period of circulation of the transformed argument of perihelion introduced in Part 1. This gives rise to long-period variations in the amplitude of crarg'.

 No.   Asteroid     Epm       k     Ampl     TL
                                      deg      yr
   1   (  153)    0.1719    1.36    18.7    270.3
   2   (  190)    0.1693    1.38    40.4    261.6
   3   (  361)    0.2044    1.48    46.1    265.6
   4   (  499)    0.200     1.44    60      248
   5   (  748)    0.1682    1.36    43.9    258.4
   6   (  958)    0.1711    1.38    47.5    259.3
   7   ( 1038)    0.1618    1.42    56.8    258.9
   8   ( 1162)    0.1401    1.34    50.7    256.6
   9   ( 1180)    0.1665    1.35    39.3    262.6
  10   ( 1202)    0.1243    1.31    65.0    252.5
  11   ( 1212)    0.2300    1.47    25.3    263.6
  12   ( 1268)    0.1334    1.32    48.5    260.4
  13   ( 1269)    0.1245    1.32    88.8    238.5
  14   ( 1345)    0.2022    1.44    28.9    269.1
  15   ( 1439)    0.1749    1.39    48.4    256.4
  16   ( 1512)    0.1933    1.41    47.1    258.4
  17   ( 1529)    0.1518    1.37    67.1    254.2
  18   ( 1578)    0.202     1.44    60      248
  19   ( 1746)    0.1388    1.32    23.5    272.6
  20   ( 1748)    0.1767    1.39    64.3    247.5
  21   ( 1754)    0.1912    1.44    48.8    264.6
  22   ( 1877)    0.2039    1.44    36.6    279.3
  23   ( 1902)    0.1882    1.40    11.8    273.9
  24   ( 1911)    0.1894    1.39    26.9    262.3
  25   ( 1941)    0.2162    1.45    49.6    253.4
  26   ( 2067)    0.1750    1.38    33.6    261.1
  27   ( 2246)    0.1506    1.34    37.2    264.0
  28   ( 2312)    0.1099    1.30    36.6    265.0
  29   ( 2483)    0.2463    1.55    23.0    262.1
  30   ( 2624)    0.1098    1.28    31.3    264.5
  31   ( 2760)    0.1771    1.37    51.5    270.1
  32   ( 2959)    0.2121    1.47    41.1    257.7
  33   ( 3134)    0.1821    1.42    33.4    266.6
  34   ( 3202)    0.1263    1.35    61.4    268.5
  35   ( 3254)    0.1103    1.30    43.0    262.8
  36   ( 3290)    0.1956    1.40    31.6    260.6
  37   ( 3415)    0.1856    1.37     5.0    265.5
  38   ( 3514)    0.1255    1.34    52.0    258.5
  39   ( 3557)    0.1724    1.37    61.0    252.6
  40   ( 3561)    0.1302    1.32    18.4    272.9
  41   ( 3571)    0.1249    1.31    44.4    269.3
  42   ( 3577)    0.1929    1.43    48.9    256.2
  43   ( 3655)    0.1553    1.37    75.8    244.2
  44   ( 3694)    0.1317    1.32    58.9    258.0
  45   ( 3843)    0.1159    1.30    72.1    251.3
  46   ( 3923)    0.1949    1.40    22.8    263.0
  47   ( 3990)    0.1667    1.37    36.1    268.0
  48   ( 4230)    0.1956    1.39    23.7    263.0
  49   ( 4255)    0.1961    1.40    25.7    262.5
  50   ( 4317)    0.2128    1.46    38.3    263.2
  51   ( 4446)    0.2703    1.60    29.3    259.8
  52   ( 4495)    0.1228    1.35    89.8    244.0
  53   ( 4757)    0.1363    1.30    27.2    263.7
  54   ( 5368)    0.1310    1.31    28.8    267.3
  55   ( 5439)    0.1234    1.33    74.6    247.3
  56   ( 5603)    0.1292    1.31    58.7    256.5
  57   ( 5661)    0.1960    1.44    39.2    273.1
  58   ( 5711)    0.1392    1.33    32.9    266.3
  59   ( 5928)    0.1586    1.36    19.0    271.1
  60   ( 6124)    0.1904    1.43    35.0    265.2
  61   ( 6237)    0.1108    1.29    58.6    259.7
  62   ( 6984)    0.1992    1.44    22.7    280.7
  63   ( 7027)    0.1873    1.41    34.0    269.8
  64   ( 7174)    0.2047    1.43    50.1    265.4
  65   ( 7284)    0.1657    1.36    55.3    255.5
  66   ( 8086)    0.1797    1.38    37.8    269.4
  67   ( 8130)    0.2142    1.45    50.3    253.9
  68   ( 8376)    0.1884    1.40    38.7    259.0
  69   ( 8550)    0.1887    1.40    30.9    261.6
  70   ( 8551)    0.1484    1.36    42.5    275.5
  71   ( 8743)    0.1702    1.38    48.9    275.9
  72   ( 8913)    0.1962    1.39    26.3    262.4
  73   ( 8915)    0.0969    1.28    38.1    265.5
  74   ( 9661)    0.1743    1.40    39.8    270.1
  75   ( 9829)    0.1906    1.39    23.9    262.9
  76   (10063)    0.1119    1.29    45.7    260.3
  77   (10296)    0.2199    1.46    47.5    253.9
  78   (10331)    0.1837    1.39    40.5    258.9
  79   (10608)    0.2167    1.44    46.5    255.0
  80   (10610)    0.1524    1.33    20.9    265.5
  81   (10632)    0.1364    1.36    60.3    258.6
  82   (11175)    0.1372    1.33     9.4
  83   (11249)    0.1907    1.43    34.8    274.3
  84   (11274)    0.1749    1.38    73.4    241.7
  85   (11388)    0.1550    1.36    55.6    260.7
  86   (11410)    0.1455    1.35    36.9    263.6
  87   (11542)    0.2003    1.43    44.4    258.9
  88   (11739)    0.1758    1.48    57.1    266.3
  89   (11951)    0.1575    1.35    41.9    260.1
  90   (12006)    0.1400    1.37    60.9    265.6
  91   (12307)    0.1919    1.40    29.4    261.7
  92   (12896)    0.2163    1.47    41.7    258.5
  93   (12920)    0.1942    1.43    49.5    257.7
  94   (13035)    0.1942    1.39    23.5    263.3
  95   (13317)    0.1514    1.33    28.0    267.0
  96   (13381)    0.1953    1.40    32.6    262.0
  97   (13504)    0.2165    1.50    40.7    273.6
  98   (13897)    0.1355    1.36    65.2    259.2
  99   (14195)    0.1866    1.40    29.0    267.3
 100   (14569)    0.2188    1.48    39.9    265.3
 101   (14669)    0.1339    1.32    43.1    263.4
 102   (14845)    0.1918    1.40    20.3    265.1
 103   (15068)    0.2068    1.44    50.0    253.1
 104   (15231)    0.2136    1.45    38.9    260.2
 105   (15278)    0.1746    1.41    56.6    259.9
 106   (15373)    0.1196    1.30     8.3
       (15376)                                    see below
 107   (15426)    0.1057    1.31    54.6    263.2
 108   (15505)    0.1774    1.40    62.2    254.7
 109   (15540)    0.1875    1.40    34.9    278.5
 110   (15545)    0.1950    1.39    27.0    262.2
 111   (15615)    0.1971    1.39    23.3    263.0
 112   (15638)    0.1434    1.34    48.3    264.5
 113   (15671)    0.1683    1.40    65.9    252.0
 114   (15783)    0.2014    1.42    48.9    256.2
 115   (16232)    0.1626    1.37    35.0    267.5
 116   (16843)    0.1794    1.37    31.6    263.0
 117   (16915)    0.1925    1.41    45.9    260.7
 118   (16927)    0.1448    1.35    49.9    273.4
 119   (16970)    0.1380    1.34    28.7    272.6
 120   (17212)    0.2043    1.43    23.5    267.4
 121   (17305)    0.1710    1.41    64.0    252.6
 122   (17428)    0.1657    1.37    44.9    265.4
 123   (17867)    0.1357    1.31    29.6    268.1
 124   (18036)    0.1961    1.40    25.7    262.6
 125   (19034)    0.1922    1.39    25.5    262.6
       (19752)                                    see below
 126   (20038)    0.1993    1.46    31.8    284.3
 127   (20628)    0.1928    1.45    59.7    251.3
 128   (20630)    0.2302    1.49    45.4    253.8
 129   (20640)    0.1667    1.36    11.4    269.8
 130   (21047)    0.1358    1.31    39.1    262.2
 131   (21128)    0.1696    1.39    58.0    258.5
 132   (21804)    0.193     1.42    60      249
 133   (21930)    0.1823    1.37    28.5    262.3
 134   (22058)    0.1611    1.41    70.2    249.3
 135   (22070)    0.2168    1.48    16.0    273.8
 136   (22647)    0.1806    1.38    30.8    261.7
 137   (22699)    0.1795    1.37    27.5    262.9
 138   (23174)    0.1833    1.42    55.6    270.3
 139   (23186)    0.2110    1.47    52.8    262.1
       (23301)                                    see below
 140   (23405)    0.120     1.34    63      256
 141   (24701)    0.2028    1.47    47.5    270.0
 142   (25800)    0.1993    1.38    35.9    259.4
 143   (25869)    0.2089    1.49    26.0    281.3
 144   (26761)    0.1787    1.36    55.9    253.0
 145   (26929)    0.2205    1.44    46.7    259.0
 146   (27561)    0.1452    1.35    35.0    263.7
 147   (28918)    0.1784    1.38     6.1
 148   (29053)    0.0944    1.28    48.9    259.7
 149   (29433)    0.1033    1.29    35.5    266.5
 150   (29591)    0.1225    1.29    26.6    267.2
 151   (29944)    0.1884    1.41    23.7    274.3
 152   (29973)    0.1808    1.37    27.9    262.7
 153   (30435)    0.2259    1.46    48.5    253.3
 154   (30764)    0.1953    1.39    29.5    261.7
 155   (31020)    0.1943    1.40    38.3    259.5
 156   (31097)    0.1660    1.41    40.9    258.6
 157   (31284)    0.1862    1.40    15.8    269.3
 158   (31338)    0.1289    1.32    33.2    270.9
 159   (31817)    0.1613    1.36    36.3    265.5
 160   (32395)    0.2073    1.43    38.7    260.2
 161   (32455)    0.2007    1.41    18.2    268.7
       (32460)                                    see below
 162   (32724)    0.1626    1.38    33.3    267.9
 163   (33753)    0.1643    1.33    37.5    264.5
 164   (34919)    0.1855    1.45    29.5    264.6
 165   (35016)    0.1695    1.36    21.2    270.2
 166   (35630)    0.1940    1.41    19.8    268.8
 167   (36182)    0.1463    1.34    53.0    256.4
 168   (36274)    0.1755    1.41    45.6    273.8
 169   (36941)    0.0975    1.27    37.0    262.8
 170   (37155)    0.1189    1.33    40.9    270.1
 171   (37452)    0.1597    1.35    38.9    266.1
 172   (37578)    0.197     1.42    61      247
 173   (37590)    0.1933    1.40    37.3    264.1
 174   (38046)    0.1807    1.37    29.0    262.5
 175   (38292)    0.2074    1.44    56.9    250.2
 176   (38470)    0.1456    1.36    42.5    265.5
 177   (38553)    0.174     1.40    60      251
 178   (38579)    0.1403    1.34    47.4    258.9
 179   (38613)    0.136     1.35    12
 180   (38684)    0.1877    1.39    23.8    263.1
 181   (38701)    0.1909    1.39    26.4    267.6
 182   (38709)    0.2491    1.54    29.9    260.5
 183   (38830)    0.1747    1.40    47.0    275.2
 184   (39266)    0.2475    1.52     1.2
 185   (39282)    0.2014    1.41    14.3    268.6
 186   (39294)    0.1229    1.32    62.8    267.9
 187   (39301)    0.1757    1.39    52.5    253.7
 188   (39382)    0.167     1.34    60      250
 189   (39405)    0.1976    1.39    26.1    262.3
 190   (39415)    0.2058    1.45    56.3    249.8
 191   (39427)    0.1749    1.37    34.7    260.9

Objects with a large inclination or osculating eccentricity

 192   (15376)    0.2340    1.52    40.8    256.5
 193   (19752)    0.1783    1.41    52.8    292.9
 194   (23301)    0.1893    1.43    50.8    289.8
 195   (32460)    0.2598    1.57    28.2    267.5

Notes to the four last objects:
 The present osculating eccentricities of (15376) and (32460) are greater
 than or close to 0.30, but there are other objects like (4446) with
 similar or greater values of Epm.
  In case of (19752) and (23301) the values of Ip are greater than 20 deg,
 which is unusual for a Hilda asteroid. Comparatively large values of TL
 result for these two asteroids.

 In a comparison with Part 1, the last digits of Epm and Ampl of these four
 objects show small differences. Due to the simple sun - Jupiter - Saturn model
 of the forces, such differences will appear, if the basic osculating elements
 refer to different epochs.


4. Low-Eccentricity Hildas and the Jupiter-Saturn Resonance

The near 5/2 commensurability of the mean motions of Jupiter and Saturn gives rise to perturbations with periods of about 900 yr in the orbital elements of these bodies. The angular arguments of these perturbations contain the mean longitudes of the two planets by the difference (5 lms - 2 lmj), with the above designations. If an argument with a period near 900 yr shows up in the variations of a Hilda orbit, another type of resonance in the resonance may be possible. The values of TL are too small, even in comparison with one half of 900 yr. However, there is a chance in the range of the low-eccentricity Hilda orbits in another way:

According to section 4 of Schubart(1991), consider an orbit with a small value of Epm and let a vector represent by its length e' and by its direction lp' (eccentricity and longitude of perihelion, transformed as in Part 1). If periodic effects with periods less than about 100 yr are removed from the data by a filtering process, this vector approximately equals the sum of a vector VE of length Epm rotating in the retrograde way with the rate nu1, and of a shorter vector VA of nearly constant length A with direct rotation according to the rate nu2. The sum of the absolute values of nu1 and nu2 equals ncr introduced in Section 2. If Epm is very small, the absolute value of nu1 is comparatively close to ncr, so that the rotation of VA is slow. Indeed, the natural cases listed in section 2 of Part 1 show comparatively large values of nu2 for Epm near 0.09, but a strong decrease of nu2 with decreasing Epm to small values of nu2 for Epm near 0.025. The decrease of nu2 corresponds to an increase of the period of rotation of VA, and this period can reach values near 900 yr at values of Epm that are slightly smaller than 0.04. Then an argument

               α =  lpa + 2 lpx -(5 lms - 2 lmj)

will show a very small rate, if lpa equals the polar angle that describes the direction of VA, and lpx varies with a much smaller rate.
There are no known objects with a nearly vanishing rate of such an α, but (17397) and (51865) at Epm = 0.04 give values of about 840 yr for the period of rotation of VA. In these cases long-period variations can arise from the long period of circulation of α. Actually, such effects have appeared in an extended integration on the orbit of (51865): The length A clearly shows long-period oscillations with a period of almost 10000 yr, but the reason for this was not found at the time of the former study. According to a recent computation, there are analogous effects with an even longer period of about 11600 yr in case of (17397).

To demonstrate the connection of these oscillations of A with the slow rotation of an argument α, the following procedure is useful. The vector (e' cos lp', e' sin lp') is studied in rotating coordinates that take away most of the rate nu2, so that the rotation of VA is slow, but the one of VE is fast. Then digital filtering removes all fast frequencies, and the isolated slow rotation of VA appears. Here the rotation of the coordinates proceeds according to the angle (5 lms - 2 lmj - 2 lpx), so that the angle α describes the rotation of the vector VA instead of lpa, and VA only shows a few rotations during an interval of more than 50000 yr. If now lpx represents a linear function of time, that describes the mean revolution of the longitude of perihelion of Saturn, VA describes a nearly circular curve about a center that is displaced by a small amount from the origin of the rotating coordinates to the fixed (-1, 0) direction. This displacement gives rise to the oscillations of A, and the period really equals the period of circulation of α in case of both (17397) and (51865).

The periods of rotation of VA and VE, that correspond to nu2 and nu1 in case of (17397), are equal to 847 and 270.8 yr, respectively, and the center of the approximately circular curve mentioned above is shifted by 0.0035. The period of the relative rotation of VA with respect to VE equals the period of libration of crarg', TL = 205 yr, and A causes the corresponding oscillation of e' about Epm. According to the changes in A, the amplitude of this effect changes between 0.020 and 0.027 with the rotation of α, while the amplitude of libration of crarg' shows a related change from about 50 to 65 deg. Certainly the very long periods of circulation of the perihelia of Jupiter and Saturn have a small influence on these changes as well. The length of VE is almost constant, but nu1 shows small variations that follow the long period of circulation of α.

In case of (51865), the periods of rotation of VA and VE are equal to 835 and 276.5 yr, and TL equals 208 yr. The center of the considered curve is only shifted by 0.0027, and the effects of libration do not change so much with the revolution of α. For instance, the amplitude of libration of crarg' changes between about 43 and 55 deg. To get a fictitious orbit with larger changes of these effects, use the starting values of (51865), here at epoch 2004 July 14, and subtract an amount of about 0.002 from both the values of semi-major axis and eccentricity. Then VA rotates with a period near 875 yr, but VA needs 20 millennia for one rotation with respect to the rotating coordinates introduced above, and this long period rules the comparatively large changes of the effects of libration: Now the amplitude of libration of crarg' changes between 40 and 68 deg. In the rotating coordinates VA produces a more complicated curve that still remains in the vicinity of a mean circle, and the center of this circle is shifted by 0.0067 from the origin to the (-1, 0) direction mentioned before. The fictitious orbit corresponds to Epm = 0.039.

5. References

Scanned copies of the following papers are available by the Web pages
of Astronomisches Rechen-Institut Heidelberg. Go to the list of:

Mittlgn. ARI, Ser. B

Schubart J., 1982, Three characteristic parameters of orbits of Hilda-type
 asteroids. Astron. Astrophys. 114, 200-204 = Mittlgn. ARI, Ser.B, No. 119

Schubart J., 1991, Additional results on orbits of Hilda-type asteroids.
 Astron. Astrophys. 241, 297-302 = Mittlgn. ARI, Ser. B, No. 173

    A special paper on details lists further references:
Schubart J., 1994, Orbits of real and fictitious asteroids studied by numerical
 integration. Astron. Astrophys. Suppl. Ser. 104, 391-399 = Mttlgn. ARI,
 Ser. B, No. 191


Last modified: 2005 Sept.26

The reference on Schubart's 2007 paper appears on top of section 2 (May 2007)