An Analysis of Slow Rotators Among the Hungaria Asteroids

Details An Analysis of Slow Rotators Among the Hungaria Asteroids An Analysis of Slow Rotators Among the Hungaria Asteroids

Sep 2009

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009dps....41.3411w&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #41, #34.11

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

Scientific paper

Studies of asteroid rotation rates among smaller asteroids (3 < D < 15 km) within the inner main belt as well as NEAs with D >0.2 km have shown a strong excess of slow rotators, i.e., those with f < 1 d-1 (Pravec et al. 2008; Pravec and Harris, 2000). In this study, we confine ourselves to asteroids in Hungaria orbital space (1.8 < a < 2 AU, e < 0.18, 16° < i < 34°) and, more specifically, to the distribution of spin rates within the group of slow rotators. Of the 141 statistically-useful rotation rates for Hungarias obtained in recent years, 36 (26%) have f < 1 d-1. This is statistically the same fraction seen in the dataset of mostly inner-belt asteroids used by Pravec et al. A more detailed look at distribution within the slow rotators shows that the distribution is not uniform and that most slow rotators have f < 0.5 d-1, the numbers within the bins f < 0.5 d-1 and f = 0.5-1.0 d-1 being 23 and 13, respectively. This difference is marginally significant but it might suggest a tie to a proposed generalized YORP effect that is weaker on slow rotators. This, in turn, leads the asteroids to remain as slow rotators for a prolonged time and so cause an excess (see discussion in Pravec et al.). Since this generalized effect may also be a cause for tumbling (Vokrouhlický et al., 2007) we are also attempting to constrain the fraction of tumblers among slow rotators. Funding for BDW and AWH was provided by NASA grant NNX 09AB48G and by National Science Foundation grant AST-0607505.

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