Near-Earth asteroid satellite spins under spin-orbit coupling

Journal Article · Sun Feb 01 04:00:00 EST 2015 · Astronomical Journal (New York, N.Y. Online)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-6256/149/2/80· OSTI ID:22342100

Naidu, Shantanu P.; Margot, Jean-Luc ^[1]

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1. Department of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095 (United States)

We develop a fourth-order numerical integrator to simulate the coupled spin and orbital motions of two rigid bodies having arbitrary mass distributions under the influence of their mutual gravitational potential. We simulate the dynamics of components in well-characterized binary and triple near-Earth asteroid systems and use surface of section plots to map the possible spin configurations of the satellites. For asynchronous satellites, the analysis reveals large regions of phase space where the spin state of the satellite is chaotic. For synchronous satellites, we show that libration amplitudes can reach detectable values even for moderately elongated shapes. The presence of chaotic regions in the phase space has important consequences for the evolution of binary asteroids. It may substantially increase spin synchronization timescales, explain the observed fraction of asychronous binaries, delay BYORP-type evolution, and extend the lifetime of binaries. The variations in spin rate due to large librations also affect the analysis and interpretation of light curve and radar observations.

• OSTI ID: 22342100
• Journal Information: Astronomical Journal (New York, N.Y. Online), Journal Name: Astronomical Journal (New York, N.Y. Online) Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 149; ISSN 1538-3881
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
AMPLITUDES
ASTEROIDS
CONFIGURATION
COSMOLOGY
DATA
EARTH PLANET
L-S COUPLING
LIFETIME
MAPS
MASS DISTRIBUTION
PHASE SPACE
PLANETS
RADAR
SATELLITES
SPIN
STABILITY
SURFACES
SYNCHRONIZATION
VISIBLE RADIATION