Abstract
In the past decade, the number of known binary near-Earth asteroids has more than quadrupled and the number of known large main-belt asteroids with satellites has doubled. Half a dozen triple asteroids have been discovered, and the previously unrecognized populations of asteroid pairs and small main-belt binaries have been identified. The current observational evidence confirms that small (≤20 km) binaries form by rotational fission and establishes that the Yarkovsky-O’Keefe-Radzievskii-Paddack (YORP) effect powers the spin-up process. A unifying paradigm based on rotational fission and post-fission dynamics can explain the formation of small binaries, triples, and pairs. Large (≥20 km) binaries with small satellites are most likely created during large collisions.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Asteroids IV |
| Publisher | University of Arizona Press |
| Pages | 355-373 |
| Number of pages | 19 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9780816532186 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9780816532131 |
| State | Published - Jan 1 2015 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Physics and Astronomy(all)