@article{68cac64111ce4bc8a7ed5dc173d34f9e,
title = "The binary near-Earth Asteroid (175706) 1996 FG3 - An observational constraint on its orbital evolution",
abstract = "Using our photometric observations taken between April 1996 and January 2013 and other published data, we derived properties of the binary near-Earth Asteroid (175706) 1996 FG3 including new measurements constraining evolution of the mutual orbit with potential consequences for the entire binary asteroid population. We also refined previously determined values of parameters of both components, making 1996 FG3 one of the most well understood binary asteroid systems. With our 17-year long dataset, we determined the orbital vector with a substantially greater accuracy than before and we also placed constraints on a stability of the orbit. Specifically, the ecliptic longitude and latitude of the orbital pole are 266° and -83°, respectively, with the mean radius of the uncertainty area of 4°, and the orbital period is 16.1508±0.0002h (all quoted uncertainties correspond to 3σ). We looked for a quadratic drift of the mean anomaly of the satellite and obtained a value of 0.04±0.20deg/yr2, i.e., consistent with zero. The drift is substantially lower than predicted by the pure binary YORP (BYORP) theory of McMahon and Scheeres (McMahon, J., Scheeres, D. [2010]. Icarus 209, 494-509) and it is consistent with the tigidity and quality factor of μQ=1.3×107Pa using the theory that assumes an elastic response of the asteroid material to the tidal forces. This very low value indicates that the primary of 1996 FG3 is a 'rubble pile', and it also calls for a re-thinking of the tidal energy dissipation in close asteroid binary systems.",
keywords = "Asteroids, dynamics, Near-Earth objects, Photometry",
author = "P. Scheirich and P. Pravec and Jacobson, {S. A.} and J. {\v D}urech and P. Ku{\v s}nir{\'a}k and K. Hornoch and S. Mottola and M. Mommert and S. Hellmich and D. Pray and D. Polishook and Krugly, {Yu N.} and Inasaridze, {R. Ya} and Kvaratskhelia, {O. I.} and V. Ayvazian and I. Slyusarev and J. Pittichov{\'a} and E. Jehin and J. Manfroid and M. Gillon and A. Gal{\'a}d and J. Pollock and J. Licandro and V. Al{\'i}-Lagoa and J. Brinsfield and Molotov, {I. E.}",
note = "Funding Information: We thank A.W. Harris and the reviewers, J. McMahon and M. {\'C}uk, for their constructive suggestions and comments. The work at Ond{\v r}ejov was supported by the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic, Grants 205/09/1107 and P209/12/0229, and by program RVO 67985815. S. Jacobson would like to acknowledge the NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship as well as thesis support through the National Optical Astronomy Observatory, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) under cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation. He also would like to acknowledge the assistance of the staffs of both the Kitt Peak National Observatory and the Apache Point Observatories. The work of J{\v D} was supported by Charles University in Prague, project PRVOUK P45. Operations at Carbuncle Hill Observatory and Sugarloaf Mt. Observatory were supported by a Gene Shoemaker NEO grant from the Planetary Society. D. Polishook is grateful to the AXA research fund for their generous postdoctoral fellowship. TRAPPIST is a project funded by the Belgian Fund for Scientific Research (Fond National de la Recherche Scientifique, F.R. SFNRS) under Grant FRFC 2.5.594.09.F, with the participation of the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF). M. Gillon and E. Jehin are FNRS Research Associates, J. Manfroid is Research Director FNRS. The work at Modra was supported by the Slovak Grant Agency for Science VEGA (Grant 1/0670/13). J.L. and V.A.L. acknowledges support from the Project AYA2012-39115-C03-03 (MINECO). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2014 Elsevier Inc.",
year = "2015",
month = jan,
day = "1",
doi = "10.1016/j.icarus.2014.09.023",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "245",
pages = "56--63",
journal = "Icarus",
issn = "0019-1035",
publisher = "Academic Press Inc.",
}