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Pluto, which is now considered a dwarf planet, became a topic of interest to many scientists because of its eccentricity and mystery. A new study shows that Pluto’s orbit is relatively stable over longer timescales, but is subject to chaos and change over shorter timescales.
It takes 248 Earth years for Pluto to complete one orbit around the Sun. Its orbits do not lie in the same plane as the eight neighboring planets, but are inclined at an angle of 17°. Pluto’s unusual orbit is also more oval or elliptical in shape than the other planets.
The study was conducted by Dr Renu Malhotra, Louise Foucar Marshall Research Professor of Science at the University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory (LPL), and Takashi Ito, a professor at the Chiba Institute of Technology’s Planetary Exploration Research Center (PERC) and the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan’s (NAOJ) Center for Computational Astrophysics.
The scientists showed that the orbital architectures of the giant planets lie in narrow recesses where Pluto-like orbits are practically stable on the giga-year timescale, while orbits nearby are highly chaotic.
Many simulations of past and future orbits Pluto have discovered a surprising characteristic that prevents Pluto from colliding with Neptune.
“This is a state of orbital resonance known as ‘motion-average resonance’,” said Dr. Malhotra quoted from Universe Today, Saturday (4/6/2022).
These conditions ensure that when Pluto is at the same heliocentric distance as Neptune, its longitude is nearly 90 degrees from Neptune.
Later, another peculiar property of Pluto’s orbit was discovered: Pluto reaches perihelion at a location far above Neptune’s orbital plane. This is a different type of orbital resonance known as “vZLK Oscillation”. This abbreviation refers to von Zeipel, Lidov, and Kozai, who studied this phenomenon as part of the “three-body problem.”
The scientists used numerical simulations of Pluto’s orbit up to the next five billion years of the Solar System for their research. In particular, they hope to answer unresolved questions about the strange orbits of Pluto and other Pluto-sized objects.
Previous studies that have tried to answer these questions with new theories have had limited success. In this hypothesis, Pluto is pulled into its current resonant motion average by Neptune, which migrated during the early history of the Solar System.
This theory predicts that other Trans-Neptunian Objects (TNOs) will have the same resonance conditions as Plutino, which has been confirmed by finding large numbers of Plutinos. As a result of this idea, the idea of planetary migration is now more widely accepted.
Beyond that, this study has significant implications for future studies of the outer Solar System and its orbital dynamics. Further study could help astronomers learn more about the migratory history of the giant planets and how they eventually settled in their current orbits.
This research could also lead to the discovery of new dynamic mechanisms that would explain the origin of orbits Pluto and other objects with high orbital tilt.
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