Near-Earth Asteroid Satellite Spins Under Spin-Orbit Coupling

Abstract

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 asynchronous 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 lightcurve and radar observations.

12 pages, 11 figures, Published in AJ

References in corpus (11)

• Dynamics of rotationally fissioned asteroids: Source of observed small asteroid systems
• Tidal Evolution of Rubble Piles
• Tidal synchronization of close-in satellites and exoplanets. A rheophysical approach
• Long-term Stable Equilibria for Synchronous Binary Asteroids
• The Rotation of Janus and Epimetheus
• The binary near-Earth asteroid (175706) 1996 FG3 - An observational constraint on its orbital evolution
• Near-Earth Binaries and Triples: Origin and Evolution of Spin-Orbital Properties
• The Formation of the Wide Asynchronous Binary Asteroid Population
• Binary Asteroid Encounters with Terrestrial Planets: Timescales and Effects
• Binary YORP and Evolution of Binary Asteroids
• Radar Imaging and Physical Characterization of Near-Earth Asteroid (162421) 2000 ET70

Cited by in corpus (17)

• The Excited Spin State of Dimorphos Resulting from the DART Impact
• Radar Imaging and Characterization of Binary Near-Earth Asteroid (185851) 2000 DP107
• Doubly Synchronous Binary Asteroid Mass Parameter Observability
• Matching asteroid population characteristics with a model constructed from the YORP-induced rotational fission hypothesis
• Energy Dissipation in Synchronous Binary Asteroids
• Spin-Spin Coupling in the Solar System
• Constraints on the perturbed mutual motion in Didymos due to impact-induced deformation of its primary after the DART impact
• Non-principal axis rotation in binary asteroid systems and how it weakens the BYORP effect
• Chaotic dynamics in the (47171) Lempo triple system
• The Hera Radio Science Experiment at Didymos
• Breakup of the Synchronous State of Binary Asteroid Systems
• On the Secondary's Rotation in Synchronous Binary Asteroid
• Improved Algorithms for Radar-based Reconstruction of Asteroid Shapes
• Surfing in the phase space of spin-orbit coupling in binary asteroid systems
• Constraining the Interiors of Asteroids Through Close Encounters
• Dynamical Model of Binary Asteroid Systems Using Binary Octahedrons
• The Onset of Chaos in Permanently Deformed Binaries from Spin-Orbit and Spin-Spin Coupling