This would make three orbits for each orbit of Jupiter — the reason why it is called orbital resonance. These weak resonances lead to a depletion of asteroids, while spikes in the histogram are often due to the presence of prominent asteroid families.
These gaps were first noticed in by professor Daniel Kirkwood. This loss in the Kirkwood gaps is due to the overlapping V 5 and V 6 secular resonances within the mean-motion resonances. Such orbital elements vary chaotically as a result and evolve onto planet-crossing orbits within a few million years. The mean-motion resonance has a few relatively stable islands within the resonance, however. The islands are depleted due to slow diffusion onto less stable orbits.
These events are linked to Jupiter and Saturn being near a resonance. Some asteroids have been observed to have high eccentric orbits that do lie within the Kirkwood gaps. Some of these asteroid groups include the Alinda and Griqua group. Such orbits increase in their eccentricity on a timescale of tens of millions of years. It will eventually break out of the resonance due to close encounters with a major planet. Gaps cannot be seen in a simple snapshot since the orbits of asteroids are elliptical, and many of these celestial objects still cross through the radii corresponding to the gaps.
The spatial density of asteroids in such gaps does not differ significantly from the neighboring regions. Most of the main gaps occur at the , , , and mean-motion resonances with Jupiter.
An asteroid in the Kirkwood gap would orbit the Sun around three times for each Jovian orbit, for example. The weaker resonances occur at other semi-major axis values, with fewer asteroids found than nearby. The core population of the asteroid belt is divided into the inner and outer zones. They are separated by the Kirkwood gap at 2.
The outer zone may be further divided into middle and outer zones by the gat at 2. In millions of years from now, many asteroids will break out of the resonances due to gravitational interactions with other planets. However, the asteroid belt already has its faith sealed. The other paths were more or less abrupt, and led down to the creek through gaps in the steep rocks.
Top Definitions Quiz Examples Kirkwood gaps. New Word List Word List. Save This Word! Specific regions in the asteroid belt where few asteroids are found. The Kirkwood gaps are believed to have formed as a consequence of gravitational interactions of asteroids with Jupiter, which resulted in the movement of the asteroids from within this area into another orbit, leaving the area sparsely populated.
The Kirkwood gaps are named after the American astronomer Daniel Kirkwood , who first observed them in We could talk until we're blue in the face about this quiz on words for the color "blue," but we think you should take the quiz and find out if you're a whiz at these colorful terms. All rights reserved. How to use Kirkwood gaps in a sentence However much we gossip about heterosexual couples with large age gaps, we at least refrain from calling them sex offenders.
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