Asteroid collisional history - Effects on sizes and spinsThe effects of asteroid collisional history on sizes and spins of present-day objects are discussed. Collisional evolution studies indicate that collisions have altered the spin-rates of small bodies, but that the largest asteroids may have retained their primordial rotation rates. Most asteroids larger than 100 km diam have probably been shattered, but have gravitationally recaptured their fragments to form a rubble-pile structure. Large angular momentum asteroids appear to have Maclaurian spheroidal or Jacobi-ellipsoid-like shapes; some of them may have fissioned into binaries. An integrated size and spin collisional evolution model is presented, with two critical parameters: one which determines the spin rates for small fragments resulting from a shattering collision, and the other determines the fraction of impact angular momentum that is retained by the target.
Document ID
19900039982
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Davis, Donald R. (Planetary Science Inst. Tucson, AZ, United States)
Weidenschilling, Stuart J. (Planetary Science Institute Tucson, AZ, United States)
Farinella, Paolo (Planetary Science Inst. Tucson, AZ, United States)
Paolicchi, Paolo (Pisa, Universita Italy)
Binzel, Richard P. (MIT Cambridge, MA, United States)