Re-examination of the transportation abilities of the 5:2 MMR with Jupiter

Abstract

Context. Resonances in the main asteroid belt play a significant role in the dynamical evolution of small bodies. They are capable of driving objects into the near-Earth object (NEO) region as well. Aims. This work re-examines the transportation abilities of the 5:2 mean motion resonance (MMR) with Jupiter. We focus on a greater portion of the resonance than the previous study that used a similar method. We are also interested in an elimination course along q ≃ 0.26 au that was discovered previously. Moreover, we search for the orbits of potentially hazardous asteroids and for orbits that correspond to recent L chondrite meteorites. Methods. Firstly, short-term fast Lyapunov indicator maps of the 5:2 MMR were computed in order to distinguish between stable and unstable orbits. Then over 10 000 unstable particles were selected and integrated for a longer period of time, up to 10 Myr, to reveal the transportation abilities of the resonance. Results. During our simulation, 99.45% of test particles became NEOs, 9.43% reached the orbit with a semi-major axis, a < 1 au, and over 27% of particles migrated to low perihelion distances, q < 0.005 au. In addition, 92.8% of the particles entered the Hill sphere of the Earth and over 97% reached an orbit at which we would classify them as potentially hazardous if they were sufficiently large. However, our simulation did not confirm ejections along q ≃ 0.26 au. Conclusions. Our results suggest that there is some kind of discrepancy between using the MERCURIUS integrator (REBOUND package) and the ORBIT9 integrator (OrbFit package). This subject is worth additional examination.