ABSTRACT. Some dynamical properties of satellite capture in the conservative and the dissipative circular and planar restricted three-body problems are studied. The investigations were performed in the space given by (Jacobi constant)×(initial position)×(capture time). For the conservative case, we identify the regions with capture and with noncapture and we associate them with the orbital resonances. The fractal dimensions of their contours also are computed. Moreover, it is shown that the rate of capture falls off as a power law with time. For the dissipative forces, we study the effect of gas drag on the structures that are observed in the space of initial conditions. We inspect how the fractal dimensions of the transition regions (the contour of the capture regions) and the power law associated with the time of capture are related to a change in the drag coefficient.

Key words: celestial mechanics; stellar dynamics

Print publication: Issue 3 (1999 March)
Received 1998 July 27, accepted for publication 1998 November 20