Facts about Ixion's orbital resonance
- 07
Ixion's orbital eccentricity of 0.244 makes it one of the most elliptical plutinos, a characteristic that intensifies its resonant interaction with Neptune's gravitational field.
- 06
Ixion's resonant circulation prevents the plutino from crossing Neptune's orbit despite orbital overlaps, a phenomenon called resonant protection unique to the 2:3 commensurability.
- 05
Ixion's resonant argument oscillates with a period of roughly 20,000 years, allowing the plutino to remain gravitationally protected within a stable region despite Neptune's perturbations.
- 04
Ixion's libration amplitude within the 2:3 resonance zone causes its longitude of perihelion to oscillate by several degrees over timescales of thousands of years, preventing gravitational ejection from the Kuiper Belt.
- 03
Ixion's close encounters with Neptune occur near its perihelion due to the 2:3 resonance, positioning the plutino approximately 39 AU from the Sun during these orbital intersections.
- 02
Ixion's orbital period of approximately 248 years matches Neptune's period almost exactly due to their 2:3 resonance, keeping the plutino locked in a stable dynamical zone.
- 01
The dwarf planet Ixion completes two orbits for every three Neptune orbits, maintaining a 2:3 orbital resonance since its discovery in 2001.