- Secular resonance
A secular resonance is a type of
orbital resonance .Secular resonances occur when the precession of two orbits is synchronised (a precession of the
perihelion , of theascending node , or both). A small body in secular resonance with a much larger one (e.g. aplanet ) will precess at the same rate as the large body. Over long times (a million years, or so) a secular resonance will change the eccentricity andinclination of the small body.The effects of secular resonances are most studied in the context of the long-time evolution (millions of years or more) of
minor planet orbits within theAsteroid belt .One can distinguish
*"linear secular resonances" between a body and a single other large perturbing body (e.g. a planet), and
*"nonlinear secular resonances" involving more than one large body. [cite journal | author= V. Carruba et al| title= "On the V-type asteroids outside the Vesta family"| journal= Astronomy & Astrophysics| year= 2005| volume= 441| pages= 819]ν6 resonance
A prominent example of a linear resonance is the "ν6 secular resonance" between
asteroid s andSaturn . Asteroids which approach it have their eccentricity slowly increased until they become mars-crossers, at which point they are usually ejected from theasteroid belt due to a close pass toMars . This resonance forms the inner and "side" boundaries of the main asteroid belt around 2 AU, and atinclination s of about 20°.References
ee also
*
orbital resonance
*Asteroid belt
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
