A Pedagogical Look at Kirkwood Gaps

Kirkwood Gaps are gaps in the distribution of asteroid orbital periods which correspond to orbital resonances between Jupiter and the asteroids. Simplified explanations account for this effect by saying that Jupiter pulls on the asteroid at the same location each orbit, pulling it into a new orbit. However, in simulations what is found is simply an oscillation, with the orbital distance and eccentricity of the objects orbit never rising to a breaking point of the orbit. More detailed explanations are often summarized as “Chaos Theory”, which gives no intuitive idea of the actual cause. The goal of my research is to provide a pedagogical look at Kirkwood Gaps utilizing multiple levels of complexity to describe the origins of Kirkwood gaps in a way that can be understood across various educational levels