How Close to Earth's orbit could another body be while in a stable solar orbit - but not in a Lagrange point?

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

... And would the closest orbit be inside or outside Earth's path? 

Does being inward or outward from the Sun make a difference in finding the closest, non-L1 /L2 stable solar orbit? 

 

Edit - circular planetary plane orbit! 

 

 

Edited May 8, 2020 by JoeSchmuckatelli

[mikegarrison]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clearing_the_neighbourhood

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

3 hours ago, mikegarrison said:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clearing_the_neighbourhood

Well sure - the planet clearing its neighborhood is kinda presupposed by the question. 

I do appreciate the link - because while I was aware of the Lagrange points - I wasn't even thinking about the resonance possibility (although I don't think you can get a circular resonance coorbit. 

 

 

That aside - if the answer to my question is in the wiki article I must have missed it. 

Edited May 9, 2020 by JoeSchmuckatelli

[K^2]

Depends on what you call a stable orbit. Take a look at Saturn's moons Janus and Epimetheus. They essentially share an orbit without actually having a fixed orbital relationship to each other. This appears to be long-term dynamically stable, even though the orbital parameters of each moon constantly change. Specifically, one moon starts out in slightly lower orbit, until it catches up with another, at which point, gravitational interaction causes them to trade altitudes. And so the moons basically play tag with each other without colliding or causing instabilities.

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

9 hours ago, K^2 said:

Depends on what you call a stable orbit. Take a look at Saturn's moons Janus and Epimetheus. They essentially share an orbit without actually having a fixed orbital relationship to each other. This appears to be long-term dynamically stable, even though the orbital parameters of each moon constantly change. Specifically, one moon starts out in slightly lower orbit, until it catches up with another, at which point, gravitational interaction causes them to trade altitudes. And so the moons basically play tag with each other without colliding or causing instabilities.

Way cool - never knew that!

 

 

...

I was looking to find out if anyone had a link to an article (or information) on just how far out a planet's 'clear it's orbit' ability extended and whether it's known how that relates to planetary mass -- or if distance from the sun was controlling (or even if there's a known relationship between the two).  The rocky planets seem to have a 25-30ish million miles separation while the giants go up quite a bit from 341 (Mars-Jupiter (but then there's the pesky asteroid belt between))… so there's no clear 'wikipedia' or 'Discover' or 'Sci-Am' answer that I've been able to find.  I know the Lagrange points are the closest solar orbits another body can occupy - but they also require the co-orbiting body to be waaaay smaller.  

But what about another planetary-mass object?  You know; just how crowded could a solar system get with planets in stable circular orbits?  I haven't seen that answered anywhere yet.  But with all the smart folks who populate this board, I was hoping someone knew whether any members of the IAU had figured this out. 

 

Doesn't look like there's an easy answer to the question - but I appreciate the info!