Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

NEAR-EARTH BINARIES AND TRIPLES: ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF SPIN-ORBITAL PROPERTIES

Journal Article · · Astronomical Journal (New York, N.Y. Online)
;  [1]
  1. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095 (United States)
In the near-Earth asteroid population, binary and triple systems have been discovered with mutual orbits that have significant eccentricities as well as large semimajor axes. All known systems with eccentric orbits and all widely separated primary-satellite pairs have rapidly rotating satellites. Here, we study processes that can elucidate the origin of these spin-orbital properties. Binary formation models based on rotational fissioning can reproduce asynchronous satellites on orbits with high eccentricities and a wide range of separations, but do not match observed properties. We explore whether any evolutionary mechanisms can link the spin and orbital parameters expected from post-fission dynamics to those observed today. We investigate four processes: tidal torques, radiative perturbations (BYORP), close planetary encounters, and Kozai oscillations. We find that a combination of post-fission dynamics and tidal evolution can explain nearly all the spin-orbit properties in a sample of nine well-characterized near-Earth binaries and triples. The other mechanisms may act as well but are not required to explain the observed data. Lastly, we describe evolutionary pathways between observed spin-orbital states including synchronous and circular, asynchronous and circular, and asynchronous and eccentric configurations.
OSTI ID:
22034298
Journal Information:
Astronomical Journal (New York, N.Y. Online), Journal Name: Astronomical Journal (New York, N.Y. Online) Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 143; ISSN 1538-3881
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

Similar Records

Formation of the wide asynchronous binary asteroid population
Journal Article · Tue Dec 31 23:00:00 EST 2013 · Astrophysical Journal · OSTI ID:22348354

Near-Earth asteroid satellite spins under spin-orbit coupling
Journal Article · Sat Jan 31 23:00:00 EST 2015 · Astronomical Journal (New York, N.Y. Online) · OSTI ID:22342100

ON THE FORMATION OF HOT JUPITERS IN STELLAR BINARIES
Journal Article · Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 EDT 2012 · Astrophysical Journal Letters · OSTI ID:22047636