Combined effect of YORP and collisions on the rotation rate of small Main Belt asteroids

F. Marzari (1) , A. Rossi , D.J. Scheeres (2)

1 Dipartimento di Fisica
2 Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences

► In this study we model the evolution of the rotation rate of small Main Belt asteroids under the effects of YORP and collisions. ► We find that cratering collisions coupled to YORP give non-linear effects which depend on the size of the bodies and are particularly relevant at slow rotation rates.These effects lead to the observed excess of slow rotators among small asteroids. ► Our model also shows that the rotational fission of small asteroids is a very frequent event and might explain objects like P/2010 A2 and its associated tail of millimeter-sized dust particles.

Mots clés: Asteroids; Rotation; Rotational dynamics; Collisions

Domaines: Planète et Univers [physics]

F. Marzari, A. Rossi, D.J. Scheeres. Combined effect of YORP and collisions on the rotation rate of small Main Belt asteroids. Icarus, 2011, 214 (2), pp.622. ⟨10.1016/j.icarus.2011.05.033⟩. ⟨hal-00786881⟩