RESONANCE AND CHAOS .2. EXTERIOR RESONANCES AND ASYMMETRIC LIBRATION

The motion of a test particle in the vicinity of exterior resonances i s examined in the context of the planar, circular, restricted three-bo dy problem. The existence of asymmetric periodic orbits associated wit h the 1 : n resonances (where n = 2, 3, 4, 5) is confirmed; there is a lso evidence of asymmetric resonances associated with larger values of n. A detailed examination of the evolution of the family of orbits as sociated with the 1:2 resonance shows the sequence that leads to asymm etric libration. On the basis of numerical studies of the phase space it is concluded that the existence of asymmetric libration means that the region exterior to the perturbing mass is more chaotic than the in terior region. The apparent absence of 'particles' in 1 : n resonances in the solar system may reflect this inherent bias.