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

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

Oct 2007

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2007dps....39.5008s&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #39, #50.08; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 39, p.513

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

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.

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