Thesis (M.App.Sc.) - Carleton University, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 124-130). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

The main purpose of this thesis is to develop a search strategy for space debris that are in the geosynchronous orbit (GEO) region. The search strategy is not an effort to find the object initially but rather if found one time to aid in finding it again within a small time frame. This was a request from NASA Johnson Space Center Orbital Debris Program Office through the MODEST, Michigan Orbital Debris Survey Telescope, program. A single definitive search pattern was not found, however depending on the COEs of the orbit specific search strategy can be employed. These search strategies are far from perfect and can be improved upon with more rigorous testing as well as a larger data sample. Another goal is to look for correlation between the orbital parameters and the errors in the predicted right ascension (RA) and the declination (DEC). This was accomplished by varying the different orbital parameters by ±10% individually while holding the other parameters constant. This showed some correlation existed between some parameters and their errors, in particular there was correlation between a variation in right ascension of ascending node (RAAN) and the value of RAAN itself. The correlation found was that with the higher the value of RAAN the larger the RMS error.

The planet crossing asteroids in the inner solar system have strongly chaotic orbits and the distributions of their angular elements (longitude of ascending node, Ω; argument of perihelion, ω; and longitude of perihelion, ϖ) are often regarded as uniform random. In the last decade, the known population of these minor planets has increased by more than a factor of four, providing a sufficiently large dataset for statistical analysis of their distribution. By choosing the observationally complete set of bright objects, we quantified the level of intrinsic non-uniformities of the angular elements for the following dynamical subgroups of Near Earth Objects (NEOs) and Mars Crossing Objects (MCOs): three subgroups of NEOs (Atens, Apollos, and Amors) and two inclination subgroups of MCOs (high and low inclination MCOs, with the boundary at inclination of 15°). Using the methods of angular statistics, we found several statistically significant departures from uniform random angular distributions. We were able to link most of them with the effects of secular planetary perturbations. The distribution of the longitude of ascending node, Ω, for NEOs is slightly enhanced near the ascending node of Jupiter due to the secularly forced inclination vector. Apollos and high inclination MCOs have axial enhancement of ω due to secular dynamics associated with inclination-eccentricity-ω coupling; these enhancements show opposite trends in these two subgroups. The ϖ distributions of Amors and of MCOs are peaked towards the secularly forced eccentricity vector, close to the ϖ value of Jupiter. These non-uniform distributions of the angular elements may affect the asteroidal impact fluxes on the planets. We developed a new approach that accounts for the non-uniform angular elements of planet crossing asteroids to investigate the impact flux and its seasonal variation on the Earth, the Moon, and Mars. The calculation for this study was achieved by generating many clones of the observationally complete subset of bright planet-crossing objects, measuring the Minimum Orbit Intersection Distance (MOID) between the planet and the clones, and making use of the classical formulation of Wetherill (1967) for the collision probability of two objects on independent Keplerian orbits. We developed a novel method to calculate the collision probability for near-tangential encounters; this resolves a singularity in the Wetherill formulation. The impact flux of NEOs on the Earth-Moon system is found to be not affected significantly by the non-uniform distribution of angular elements of NEOs. The impact flux on Mars, however, is found to be reduced by a factor of about 2 compared to the flux that would obtain from the assumption of uniform random distributions of the angular elements of MCOs. Moreover, the impact flux on Mars has a strong seasonal variation, with a peak when the planet is near aphelion. We found that the amplitude of this seasonal variation is a factor of 4-5 times smaller compared to what would be obtained with a uniform random distribution of the angular elements of MCOs. We calculate that the aphelion impact flux on Mars is about three times larger than its perihelion impact flux. We also calculate the current Mars/Moon impact flux ratio as 2.9-5.0 for kilometer size projectiles.

This work is devoted to a study of dynamical and collisional processes, governing populations of small bodies in the Solar System. It pays special attention to asteroid families and Jupiter Trojans. Librating around L4 and L5 Lagrangian points of the Sun-Jupiter-asteroid system, these asteroids are believed to be captured from the trans- Neptunian region during a giant planet system instability about 4 Gy ago. We discovered (back in 2011) there is only one significant collisional family among Trojans, associated with C-type asteroid (3548) Eurybates, i.e., one of the targets for the upcoming 'Lucy' mission. Detailed analysis of new proper resonant orbital elements, colours and albedos, together with statistical significance computations, allowed us to find five more collisional families: Hektor, (9799), Arkesilaos, Ennomos, and (247341). The discovery of the first D-type family associated with (624) Hektor was the most surprising, because it is the most primitive taxonomic type. Using long-term dynamical simulations of synthetic families, evolving by chaotic diffusion, we estimated the ages of the Eurybates and Hektor families, approximately (2.5±1.5) Gy for both. We also studied impact processes by means of the smoothed-particle hydrodynamics (SPH). We simulated cratering events on (624) Hektor, the origin...

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Lorsqu’un fort effet de marée entre Saturne et ses satellites de glace a été révélé il y a plusieurs années, le système a été sujet à des nombreux questionnements concernant sa formation et son évolution. Une implication importante de ces résultats est que les satellites sont plus jeunes que la planète et ont subi d’importantes modifications orbitales durant leurs évolutions, rendant possible plusieurs traversées en résonance. Dans cette thèse, nous cherchons à vérifier le scénario selon lequel Titan serait à l’origine de l’orbite actuelle de Japet. Si Titan a fortement migré lui aussi, alors il a dû traverser la résonance 5:1 avec Japet. Or, l’orbite de Japet admet deux éléments orbitaux dont les origines restent à être déterminées clairement : d’une part une inclinaison de 8 degrés par rapport à son plan de Laplace et d’autre part, une orbite excentrique d’environ 0,03. En plaçant initialement Japet sur une orbite circulaire et coplanaire avec le plan de Laplace, de nombreuses simulations numériques de la traversée en résonance, utilisant un code N-Corps ainsi qu’un modèle semi-analytique, ont été réalisées. L’analyse des simulations montre que les résultats sont très dépendants de la dissipation interne de la planète, paramétrée par le facteur de qualité Q. Pour des valeurs au-delà d’environ 2000, on obtient en majorité l’éjection de Japet lorsque Titan traverse la résonance. Pour des vitesses de migration élevées (Q en dessous de 100 environ) Japet est très peu perturbé par Titan. Le nombre d’éjections croît avec la valeur de Q et pour des valeurs entre 100 et 2000 la plupart des simulations montrent une capture en résonance, une évolution chaotique de l’excentricité et de l’inclinaison, puis une libération avec des éléments orbitaux perturbés. La valeur des excentricités après la résonance varie entre 0 et 0.15 et l’inclinaison peut croître jusqu’à 11 degrés. Sur 800 simulations effectuées avec le code N-Corps, 2 montrent une sortie de résonance de Japet avec des éléments en accord avec ceux observés actuellement. De plus, en comptant celles venant du modèle semi-analytique, plus d’une vingtaine montrent une inclinaison libre ayant dépassé 4 degrés. Ces simulations numériques nous ont permis de contraindre le facteur de dissipation de la planète à la fréquence de Titan. C’est pour une valeur de Q entre 100 et 2000 que les simulations de traversée en résonance rendent compte au mieux de l’orbite actuelle de Japet, rendant ainsi plausible le scénario d’un récente perturbation de Japet par Titan lors de la traversée de la résonance 5:1. / When a strong tidal interaction between Saturn and its icy satellites was revealed a few years ago, the formation of the system and its evolution were subject to questioning. These results imply that the satellites are younger than the planet and underwent important orbital modifications during their evolution, making possible many mean motion resonance crossings between satellites. In this thesis, we assume that Titan migration is also important, increasing its semi-major axis in time, and crossing a 5:1 resonance with Iapetus. Today, Iapetus’ orbital plane is tilted with respect to a natural equilibrium plane called the Laplace plane, on which a satellite should have naturally been formed. But, among having non-null eccentricity, Iapetus’ orbit stays on a constant 8 degree tilt with respect to this equilibrium plane. We are therefore assessing the possibility for Titan to be responsible for Iapetus’ orbit.Starting with Iapetus on a circular orbit with its orbital plane co-planar with the Laplace plane, we have used a N-Body code and a semi-analytic model to perform numerous numerical simulations.The analysis of the simulations show that the results are very dependent on the quality factor, Q. For values greater than 2000, Iapetus is more likely to get ejected during the crossing of the resonance, whereas setting a fast migration for Titan (Q below 100) avoids any strong perturbation of Iapetus’ orbit. The ejection likelihood increases with Q and for values between 100 and 2000, many simulations show a resonance capture, followed by a chaotic evolution of the eccentricity and the inclination, then a release with perturbed orbital elements. The range of values for post-resonance eccentricities are between 0 and 0.15 while the tilt can grow up to 11 degrees. Out of 800 simulations done with the N-Body code, 2 show elements compatible with Iapetus’ actual orbit. In addition, more than twenty simulations show a tilt having raised over 4 degrees if we count the simulation done with the semi-analytic model.These numerical simulations allowed us to constrain the tidal dissipation of the planet at Titan’s frequency. Some simulations performed with Q between 100 and 2000 account for the orbit of Iapetus we observe today, making plausible the scenario where the resonance with Titan was the source of Iapetus’ perturbed orbit.

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No. of bitstreams: 1 santos_jc_dr_guara.pdf: 78449557 bytes, checksum: 4515b9cb7cc346753f7e9682b8e037de (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-07-04 / Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) / Nowadays, despite the technological development experienced by science in general, a fact especially evident by the available powerful computer machines, the analytical and semi-analytical methods to study different space problems are still of great importance in the fields of astrodynamics and celestial mechanics. From the physical understanding of the motion of celestial bodies to the planing and designing of space missions, the use of mathematical models to deal with a very large number of contemporary problems plays a fundamental role in the progress of human knowledge. In this context, the present thesis presents the use of different mathematical techniques to deal with different various and current problems in astrodynamics and celestial mechanics. The studies developed throughout this work are applicable to both areas. The topics studied are the following ones: (1) The development of disturbing potentials using the double-averaging process, in order to be included in the Lagrange planetary which are numerically integrated to study features of orbits around Mercury and the Galilean moon Callisto; (2) The use of different perturbation integrals, techniques to identify and map different perturbations present in a planetary system, with focus on the analysis of systems of Giant planets with their massive moons; (3) The use of the concept of intermediary Hamiltonian and the use of a canonical transformation called elimination of the parallax, both to deal with binary systems in the context of the roto-orbital dynamics, this one as an approach of the fulltwo body problem; (4) An updated analysis of Gauss variational equations to study quasisatellite orbits around the Martian moon Phobos and with analytical predictions made after obtaining linear and averaged equations of motions. Therefore, this thesis intend not only to provide important analysis and results for each specific problem which it deals with along its pages, but also seeks to highlighting the merit and current relevance of different analytical and semi-analytical methods to be used in the fields of astrodynamics and celestial mechanics. Additionally, the author also hopes to offer an outcome of diverse interesting ideas and methods to be explored in future investigations in these research fields / Na atualidade, a despeito do desenvolvimento tecnológico experimentado pela ciência em geral, algo especialmente evidenciado por poderosas máquinas computacionais disponíveis, os métodos analíticos e semianalíticos para o estudo de diferentes problemas espaciais ainda são de grande importância nos campos de astrodinâmica e mecânica celeste. Desde a compreensão física do movimento de corpos celestes até ao planejamento e projeto de missões espaciais, o uso de modelos matemáticos para lidar com um grande número de problemas contemporâneos desempenha um papel fundamental no progresso do conhecimento humano. Neste contexto, a presente tese apresenta o uso de diferentes técnicas matemáticas para lidar com diversos e atuais problemas em astrodinâmica e mecânica celeste. Os estudos desenvolvidos ao longo deste trabalho são aplicáveis à ambas as áreas. Os tópicos estudados são os seguintes: (1) O desenvolvimento de potenciais perturbadores usando o processo de dupla média, de forma a serem incluídos nas equações planetárias de Lagrange que são integradas numericamente para estudar características de órbitas ao redor de Mercúrio e da lua galileana Calisto; (2) A utilização de diferentes integrais de perturbação, técnicas para identificar e mapear diferentes perturbações presentes em um sistema planetário, com foco na análise de sistemas de planetas gigantes com suas luas massivas; (3) A utilização do conceito de hamiltoniana intermediária e o uso de uma transformação canônica chamada eliminação da paralaxe, ambos para lidar com sistemas binários no contexto da dinâmica roto-orbital, essa sendo uma aproximação do problema completo de dois corpos; (3) Uma análise atualizada de equações variacionais de Gauss para o estudo de órbitas quasi-satélite ao redor da lua marciana Fobos e com predições analíticas realizadas após serem obtidas equações de movimento linearizadas e com média. Portanto, esta tese pretende não somente prover importantes análises e resultados para cada problema específico com os quais a mesma lida ao longo de suas páginas, mas também procura destacar o mérito e relevância atual de diferentes métodos analíticos e semianalíticos a serem utilizados nos campos de astrodinâmica e mecânica celeste. Adicionalmente, o autor também espera oferecer um produto de variadas ideias e métodos a serem explorados em futuras investigações nesses campos de pesquisa / 2013/26652-4 / 2015/18881-9