Jupiter, the great celestial organizer: On the origin of orbits of some asteroid families in mean motion resonances with Jupiter

Abstract

The mechanism that forms the different resonant families of the asteroid belt between the orbits of Jupiter and Mars is not completely understood. To study the resonant capture mechanism and the origin of orbits of some asteroid families in mean motion resonances with Jupiter, furthermore to give a possible explanation of this problem, we performed in situ numerical simulations of the 3-dimensional semi-analytical model of the Sun-Jupiter-particle system. We examined the numbers and orbits of particles captured along the Jupiter's present orbit (including the L3, L4 and L5 Lagrange points) for 7000 Jupiter years. In our simulations we did not distinguish between planetesimals, interplanetary dust and asteroids, because we investigated the restricted three-body problem taking into account only gravitation. We found that the asteroid families in 4:3, 1:1, 4:5, 3:4, 2:3, 5:8, 4:7 and 5:9 resonances may have formed from the asteroids captured, launched and kept on their orbits not only by the L4 and L5 points, but also by the unstable L3 point and certain areas along the Jupiter's path. Furthermore, we found possible new asteroid families in 4:5 and 3:4 resonances, no any member of which have yet been identified. Thus, Jupiter forms a shield which protects the inner Solar System from asteroids moving with speeds not significantly differing from that of Jupiter.