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Abstract  Trojan asteroids undergo very large perturbations because of their resonance with Jupiter. Fortunately the secular evolution of quasi circular orbits remains simple—if we neglect the small short period perturbations. That study is done in the approximation of the three dimensional circular restricted three-body problem, with a small mass ratio μ—that is about 0.001 in the Sun Jupiter case. The Trojan asteroids can be defined as celestial bodies that have a “mean longitude”, M + ω + Ω, always different from that of Jupiter. In the vicinity of any circular Trojan orbit exists a set of “quasi-circular orbits” with the following properties: (A) Orbits of that set remain in that set with an eccentricity that remains of the order of the mass ratio μ. (B) The relative variations of the semi-major axis and the inclination remain of the order of $${\sqrt{\mu}}$$ . (C) There exist corresponding “quasi integrals” the main terms of which have long-term relative variations of the order of μ only. For instance the product c(1 – cos i) where c is the modulus of the angular momentum and i the inclination. (D) The large perturbations affect essentially the difference “mean longitude of the Trojan asteroid minus mean longitude of Jupiter”. That difference can have very large perturbations that are characteristics of the “horseshoes orbit”. For small inclinations it is well known that this difference has two stable points near ±60° (Lagange equilibrium points L4 and L5) and an unstable point at 180° (L3). The stable longitude differences are function of the inclination and reach 180° for an inclination of 145°41′. Beyond that inclination only one equilibrium remains: a stable difference at 180°. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The famous Laplace problem is the three-body, secular, planetary problem. Its plane version has the great theoretical advantage of being integrable (Ferraz-Mello, private correspondence, 2001) and Ferraz-Mello et al. (Chaotic World: from order to Disorder in Gravitational N-Body Systems, Kluwer Academic Publisher, 2004)). Nevertheless it remains a very complex problem with many singularities and many possibilities of collisions. Large eccentricities lead generally to large perturbations especially if the two planets have the same direction of revolution about their star. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]