Misaligned rings around minor planets with moons

Abstract

Recent observations have confirmed the existence of rings around minor bodies in the outer Solar System. These objects may possess satellites as well. Here we analytically investigate the interaction between such rings and satellites. We show that the perturbations from the moons may efficiently lead to off-equatorial rings around minor bodies like trans-neptunian objects or centaurs. In particular, we derive criteria for the orbital elements under which such misaligned rings may exist. These considerations will be easily testable with the upcoming deep sky surveys.

Figures (3)

• Figure 1: Heat map showing the relative strength of the primary's oblateness (yellow) and a satellite's perturbation (blue). The solid line separates the regions where any of the two effects become dominant. The dotted line marks the boundary of Hill stability. Rings in the shaded region are tilted as the result of a satellite's perturbation.
• Figure 2: Allowed mass ratio and inclination parameters for off-equatorial rings by Eq. \ref{['eq:main']}. The solid and dashed lines have the same meaning as in Fig. \ref{['fig:prec_dom']}. The available parameter space is clearly wider for higher inclinations.
• Figure 3: The same as Fig. \ref{['fig:search_map_inc']} but for semi-major axis instead of eccentriciy. Binary minor bodies lie in the lower left, while ringed moons around gas giants in the upper right part of the blue-shaded stripe.