2016/07/28 by C. de la Fuente Marcos, R. de la Fuente Marcos · 2 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astro and Planetary Science #Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #astro-ph.EP
paper · pdf · doi:10.1093/mnras/stw1833
published as Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 462, Issue 3, p. 3344-3349 (November 1, 2016) · 7 pages, 2 figures, 1 table. Revised to match version published in MNRAS
openalex publication_date 2016/07/28 · arxiv created 2016/08/05 · openalex created_date 2016/08/23 · arxiv updated 2017/11/15 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
In the Solar system, a quasi-satellite is an object that follows a heliocentric path with an orbital period that matches almost exactly with that of a host body (planetary or not). The trajectory is of such nature that, without being gravitationally attached, the value of the angular separation between host and quasi-satellite as seen from the Sun remains confined within relatively narrow limits for time-spans that exceed the length of the host's sidereal orbital period. Here, we show that under these conditions, a quasi-satellite traces an analemma in the sky as observed from the host in a manner similar to that found for geosynchronous orbits. The analemmatic curve (figure-eight-, teardrop-, ellipse-shaped) results from the interplay between the tilt of the rotational axis of the host and the properties of the orbit of the quasi-satellite. The analemma criterion can be applied to identify true quasi-satellite dynamical behaviour using observational or synthetic astrometry and it is tested for several well-documented quasi-satellites. For the particular case of 15810 (1994 JR1), a putative accidental quasi-satellite of dwarf planet Pluto, we show explicitly that this object describes a complex analemmatic curve for several Plutonian sidereal periods, confirming its transient quasi-satellite status.