Mutual Orbits, Bulk Densities, Formation and Evolution of Multiple Visualized Main-Belt Asteroids

Details Mutual Orbits, Bulk Densities, Formation and Evolution of Multiple Visualized Main-Belt Asteroids Mutual Orbits, Bulk Densities, Formation and Evolution of Multiple Visualized Main-Belt Asteroids

Oct 2007

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2007dps....39.1607m&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #39, #16.07; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 39, p.440

Physics

Optics

Scientific paper

The advent of high angular resolution imaging, provided by high angular resolution instruments such as Adaptive Optics (AO) or Hubble Space Telescope, permitted the visual discovery of more than fifty multiple asteroid systems over the last twelve years, including two triple main-belt asteroid systems, 45 Eugenia and 87 Sylvia, discovered by our team.
Over the past few years, we have focused our attention on the multiple systems located in the main-belt. We initiated an intensive campaign of observations in 2003 that combines the AO high-resolution capabilities of various 8m-10m class telescopes (UT4 of the Very Large Telescope, W.M. Keck-II and Gemini-North) in order to resolve them and study their characteristics (orbits, mass, density, and shape). We recently published a complete analysis of the orbit, size and shape of 90 Antiope, which is a similar-sized doublet system (Descamps et al., Icarus, 2007). We performed the same analysis on the asteroids with small (a few km) satellite, and published a complete analysis of 12 binary systems (Marchis et al., Nature, 2005; Icarus, submitted, 2007ab). Our work revealed a large diversity in their mutual orbits, suggesting a different origin and evolution. Their bulk density is quite variable depending on their taxonomic classes, and in the most case, they have a significant macro-porosity (>30%) that suggests a rubble-pile interior. We will also present a synthesis of these multiple asteroid system properties, including additional studies in progress (lightcurve of mutual events) and future ideas (comparative spectroscopy), which will help to get insights on the formation process of these systems.
This work was supported by the National Science Foundation Science and Technology Center for Adaptive Optics (No. AST-9876783) and by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration issue through the Science Mission Directorate Research and Analysis Programs number NNG05GF09G.

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