Persistence of planetary rings under the influence of the anisotropically re-emitted solar radiation

The solar radiation has a destabilizing influence on planetary rings. The shepherding satellites explain the persistence of these structures, but the observational evidence for such satellites is still very weak. This paper studies the existence of periodic orbits of rings’ particles under a strongly destabilizing perturbing factor: the solar radiation re-emitted anisotropically by the \textquotedblleft landlord\textquotedblright \ planet. To this end we use Maxwell’s model of Saturn’s rings, but enriching the respective potential with the terms corresponding to the planet’s oblateness and to re-emitted radiation. This \((n+1)\)-body problem can be split into \(n\) identical two-body problems. To prove the persistence of periodic solutions, we use two basic facts: (1) the potential generates a strong force in Gordon’s sense; (2) the vector field of the problem exhibits the symmetries \(S_{i},i=1,2,\ldots,7\). We prove that for any pre-assigned period T there exist infinitely many \(S_{i}\)-symmetric \((i=2,3)\) periodic solutions of the problem.

Vasile Mihoc
Astronomical Institute of the RomanianAcademy

Mira-Cristiana Anisiu
Tiberiu Popoviciu Institute of Numerical Analysis of the RomanianAcademy

Magda Stavinschi
Astronomical Institute of the RomanianAcademy

celestial mechanics – planetary rings– variational methods.

V. Mioc, M.-C. Anisiu, M. Stavinschi, Persistence of planetary rings under the influence of the anisotropically re-emitted solar radiation, Rom. Astron. J. 15 suppl. (2005), Proceedings of the Scientific Session Astrometry with Small Telescopes, 87-94

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