The Rotation Rates of Sub-Kilometer-Sized Near Earth Asteroids

Details The Rotation Rates of Sub-Kilometer-Sized Near Earth Asteroids The Rotation Rates of Sub-Kilometer-Sized Near Earth Asteroids

Jul 2007

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2007dda....38.0904s&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, DDA meeting #38, #9.04

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

Scientific paper

Rapidly rotating asteroids, with rotation periods under 2 hours, appear abruptly at absolute magnitudes fainter than H = 21.6, corresponding to diameters smaller than 150 m. Roughly 40 such objects are known, with the fastest periods almost as short as 1 minute. These objects are generally presumed to be monolithic, although current data cannot exclude weakly cohesive rubble piles. The cohesive rubble pile model predicts a gradual transition between slow and fast rotators as a function of size; yet currently there is only a single known object (2001 OE84) with a diameter above 200 m and rapid rotation. To determine the sharpness of the diameter cutoff in the fast-rotator population, we have undertaken a survey of NEA optical light curves using the 2.4 meter Hiltner telescope at the MDM Observatory. To date, 27 objects in the absolute magnitude range 18 < H < 26 have been observed, with a frame rate of approximately 100 s, for typical durations of 3 to 4 h. Most have been observed on consecutive nights. It appears that in this absolute magnitude range, and even for H > 21.6, most objects are not fast, but instead slow rotators, with periods substantially longer than 2 hours. I will present details of the light curves and the absolute magnitude-rotation period distribution.

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