Using the eccentric version of the restricted three-body problem to model exosolar systems

Abstract

The eccentric version of the restricted three-body problem is applied for obtaining the taxonomy of trajectories in exosolar systems. Our analysis is sufficient enough for the test particles to represent a variety of celestial bodies, such as terrestrial-mass exoplanets, exoasteroids, exocomets, or exomoons. Moreover, our results specifically identify allowed orbits for exomoons. Through the systematic classification of trajectories, we manage to distinguish between the different types of motion and therefore reveal how both the total orbital energy and the eccentricity affect the dynamical properties of trajectories of the test particles.