Spin Evolution of Sub-km Sized Asteroids Due to YORP Torques

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy

Scientific paper

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

Scientific paper

The YORP torque on an irregularly shaped asteroid is due to thermal re-radiation from that object (Rubincam 2001). The YORP torque scales as r3 where r is the effective radius of the object. Therefore the rate of change of spin rate due to YORP torque scales as r-2 and the timescale for the change in spin period scales as r2. For sub-km sized asteroids, this can be an important spin-altering mechanism.
One consequence of the YORP torque (or for that matter of any external torque) is the rotational excitation of the object. For rotational excitation to occur, the ratio and the strengths of component torques along the body axes need to satisfy certain criteria in addition to the kinetic energy of rotation of the object being sufficiently low. We will discuss pathways for rotational excitation and provide analytical expressions for the timescale for the rotational excitation due to YORP torques. These analytical predictions will be compared with numerical calculations carried out for model asteroid shapes. We will discuss how rotational excitation could affect the overall spin evolution of the sub-km sized asteroids.
We gratefully acknowledge the support from NASA Outer Planets Research program.
References:
Rubincam, D.P. 2001. Icarus 148, pp. 2-11.

No associations

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for scientists and scientific papers. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

Spin Evolution of Sub-km Sized Asteroids Due to YORP Torques does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Spin Evolution of Sub-km Sized Asteroids Due to YORP Torques, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Spin Evolution of Sub-km Sized Asteroids Due to YORP Torques will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1066923

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.