Angular momentum transfer in low velocity oblique impacts - Implications for asteroids

An experimental study has been conducted for the low-velocity oblique impact efficiency of angular momentum transfer, which is defined as that fraction of incident angular momentum that is transferred to the rotation of a target. The results obtained suggest that more energetic impacts are able to transfer angular momentum more efficiently. In the cases of ricochetted projectiles, the fraction of angular momentum carried off by the ejecta was noted to be less than 30 percent. It is suggested that, if asteroid spin rates are due to mutual noncatastrophic collisions and the taxonomic classes are indicative of bulk properties, the differences between corresponding spin rates will be smaller than expected from a consideration of relative strength and density alone.