The absence of satellites of asteroids

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy

Scientific paper

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Asteroids, Natural Satellites, Astronomical Models, Planetary Gravitation, Planetary Orbits, Asteroids, Satellites, Ccd Methods, Ceres, Pallas, Vesta, Hebe, Iris, Flora, Eunomia, Amphitrite, Daphne, Nysa, Nausikaa, Collisions, Size, Theoretical Studies, Tidal Effects, Rotation, Period, Asteroid Belt, Stability, Binary Systems, Photographic Methods, Telescope Methods, Parameters, Earth-Based Observations, Magnitude, Astronomy

Scientific paper

A CCD-imaging survey was made for satellites of minor planets at distances of about 0.1 to 7 arcmin from 1 Ceres, 2 Pallas, 4 Vesta, 6 Hebe, 7 Iris, 8 Flora, 15 Eunomia, 29 Amphitrite, 41 Daphne, and 44 Nysa, with cursory inspection of 192 Nausikaa. Satellites larger than 3 km were not found in this work, nor in previous photographic surveys. Not finding them appears to be consistent with theoretical studies of collisions in the asteroid belt by several authors. The satellites would have to be larger than at least 30 km to be collisionally stable. Taking tidal stability into account, it is concluded that the only possible satellites for main-belt asteroids are near-contact binaries. The only other rare possibility for a satellite might be a piece of debris from a recent collision.

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