Abstract
To explain the long-term existence of Uranian narrow rings, we study the dynamical evolution of Uranian epsilon ring under the influence of its two shepherding satellites: Cordelia and Ophelia. The model of planar-elliptic restricted three-body problem is employed, in which the three bodies are Uranus, a satellite and a test particle. Dissipations due to interparticle collisions are also taken into consideration. A mapping system has been obtained based on the differential equation system. Numerical results show that only those particles originally lying in the libration region of the resonance can be shepherded. The size of the libration region depends mainly on the orbital eccentricity and mass of the shepherd satellite. For the outer shepherd Ophelia with larger orbital eccentricity, if its mass is a third of the nominal mass 2.5 × 1019 g, most of the orbits are regular and the outer edge of the ring can be shepherded, but more fuzzy than the inner edge. Thus we infer that Ophelia has a smaller mass.
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