PLANETARY CLOSE ENCOUNTERS BETWEEN JUPITER AND ABOUT 3000 FICTITIOUS MINOR BODIES

Single close encounters between Jupiter and about 3000 hypothetical minor bodies, initially on elliptical orbits, have been studied computing the evolution of the three-body system Sun-Jupiter-object, by means of a new numerical method of integration. The fictitious population processed contains almost all the orbits which allow a close approach to the planet. The efficiency of a single encounter in varying the orbital parameters of the objects resulted to be generally poor, as it is shown by the distributions of the orbital parameter variations. Collisions and ejections from the solar system on hyperbolic orbits are little numerous; some temporary satellite capture have been recognised. The results of this work show that any attempt to study the close encounter event by means of two distinct two-body problems is physically meaningless because the mid-range perturbations, disregarded in such cases, are very far from being negligible. © 1978 D. Reidel Publishing Company.