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arXiv · 1002.4617

Coorbital Satellites of Saturn: Congenital Formation

A. Izidoro·O. C. Winter·M. Tsuchida
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Abstract

Saturn is the only known planet to have coorbital satellite systems. In the present work we studied the process of mass accretion as a possible mechanism for coorbital satellites formation. The system considered is composed of Saturn, a proto-satellite and a cloud of planetesimals distributed in the coorbital region around a triangular Lagrangian point. The adopted relative mass for the proto-satellite was 10^-6 of Saturn's mass and for each planetesimal of the cloud three cases of relative mass were considered, 10^-14, 10^-13 and 10^-12 masses of Saturn. In the simulations each cloud of planetesimal was composed of 10^3, 5 x 10^3 or 10^4 planetesimals. The results of the simulations show the formation of coorbital satellites with relative masses of the same order of those found in the saturnian system (10^-13 - 10^-9). Most of them present horseshoe type orbits, but a significant part is in tadpole orbit around L_4 or L_5. Therefore, the results indicate that this is a plausible mechanism for the formation of coorbital satellites.

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A. Izidoro, O. C. Winter, M. Tsuchida. 2010-02-24. Coorbital Satellites of Saturn: Congenital Formation. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2966.2010.16655.x

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