Dynamics around non-spherical symmetric bodies - III. The case of a spherical body with a crater

Abstract

Motivated by the peculiar features of the trans-Neptunian object (TNO) Máni and the discovery of ring systems around Centaurs and trans-Neptunian bodies, we investigate the stability of particles around a small irregular body hosting a deep equatorial crater. This study is the third contribution in a sequence devoted to the dynamics around non-spherically symmetric bodies. Using Máni as a reference model, whose crater depth exceeds 10% of its radius, we map the system stability through complementary methods: Poincaré surfaces of section (PSS), survival maps, and the finite-time Lyapunov exponent (FTLE). In the nominal case, the $1\!:\!1$, $2\!:\!1$, $3\!:\!1$, and $4\!:\!1$ spin-orbit resonances (SORs) are consistently identified by all techniques. The prominent $3\!:\!1$ SOR exhibits a bifurcated structure at high eccentricities, matching structural transitions observed at lower Jacobi constant values in the PSSs. Increasing the rotation rate ($λ$) and crater mass ratio ($μ$) enlarges resonance widths and promotes overlap, making the $2\!:\!1$ and $4\!:\!1$ SORs progressively dominant. Lower rotation rates allow stable trajectories to persist at higher eccentricities, whereas the $1\!:\!1$ SOR is highly sensitive to stronger perturbations and disappears in the most extreme cases. In contrast to mass-anomaly models, which can clear the region interior to the $2\!:\!1$ SOR, the crater configuration considered here preserves stable regions in this vicinity, suggesting alternative scenarios for the formation and maintenance of debris structures around irregular minor bodies.