Statistics
Scientific paper
Mar 1984
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1984icar...57..464d&link_type=abstract
Icarus (ISSN 0019-1035), vol. 57, March 1984, p. 464-476.
Statistics
49
Angular Momentum, Asteroids, Celestial Mechanics, Collisions, Mass Transfer, Planetary Rotation, Asteroids, Spin, Angular Momentum, Rotation, Impacts, Ejecta, Escape, Collisions, Evolution, Theoretical Studies, Mass, Calculations, Data
Scientific paper
It is proposed that a new mechanism - angular momentum drain - helps account for the relatively slow rotation rates of intermediate-sized asteroids. Impact ejecta on a spinning body preferentially escape in the direction of rotation. This material systematically drains away spin angular momentum, leading to the counterintuitive result that collisions can reduce the spin of midsized objects. For an asteroid of mass M spinning at frequency ω, a mass loss δM corresponds to an average decrease in rotation rate δω ≈ ωδM/M. A. W. Harris' (1979) theory for the collisional evolution of asteroidal spins is significantly altered by the inclusion of this effect. While the modified theory is still somewhat artificial, comparison of its predictions with the data of S. F. Dermott et al. (1984) suggests that angular momentum drain is essential for understanding the statistics of asteroidal rotations.
Burns Joseph A.
Dobrovolskis Anthony R.
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