The Kirkwood hatches were named after the American astronomer and mathematician Daniel Kirkwood (1814-1895).
In the asteroid belt, which is located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, there are so-called ring zones, which are similar to the gaps between the rings of Saturn, in which the number of asteroids is significantly lower than their average number in the entire belt. They were named after the discoverer. In these zones, the periods of rotation of asteroids whose orbits are in these zones by the period of Jupiter’s rotation are 1/2, 1/3, 2/5, 3/7, 5/11, etc. It is clear that the Kirkwood hatch is the result of the resonant gravitational interaction of asteroids with Jupiter, but the theory explaining this phenomenon has not yet been finalized.”
Kirkwood hatches
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