A Dynamical Survey of the Trans-Neptunian Region. I. Mean-motion Resonances with Neptune

Abstract

In this paper, we present a large-scale dynamical survey of the trans-Neptunian region, with particular attention to mean-motion resonances (MMRs). We study a set of 4121 trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs), a sample far larger than in previous works. We perform direct long-term numerical integrations that enable us to examine the overall dynamics of the individual TNOs as well as to identify all MMRs. For the latter purpose, we apply an own-developed FAIR method that allows the semi-automatic identification of even very high-order MMRs. Apart from searching for the more frequent eccentricity-type resonances that previous studies concentrated on, we set our method to allow the identification of inclination-type MMRs, too. Furthermore, we distinguish between TNOs that are locked in a given MMR throughout the whole integration time span (10 ^8 yr) and those that are only temporarily captured in resonances. For a more detailed dynamical analysis of the trans-Neptunian space, we also construct dynamical maps using test particles. Observing the fine structure of the 34–80 au region underlines the stabilizing role of the MMRs, with the regular regions coinciding with the positions of real TNOs.

Keywords

• Resonant Kuiper belt objects
• N-body problem