Spin rate distribution of small asteroids

The spin rate distribution of main belt/Mars crossing (MB/MC) asteroids with diameters 3-15 km is uniform in the range from f=1 to 9.5 d⁻¹, and there is an excess of slow rotators with f<1 d⁻¹. The observed distribution appears to be controlled by the Yarkovsky-O'Keefe-Radzievskii-Paddack (YORP) effect. The magnitude of the excess of slow rotators is related to the residence time of slowed down asteroids in the excess and the rate of spin rate change outside the excess. We estimated a median YORP spin rate change of ≈0.022 d⁻¹/Myr for asteroids in our sample (i.e., a median time in which the spin rate changes by 1 d⁻¹ is ≈45 Myr), thus the residence time of slowed down asteroids in the excess is ≈110 Myr. The spin rate distribution of near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) with sizes in the range 0.2-3 km (∼5 times smaller in median diameter than the MB/MC asteroids sample) shows a similar excess of slow rotators, but there is also a concentration of NEAs at fast spin rates with f=9-10 d⁻¹. The concentration at fast spin rates is correlated with a narrower distribution of spin rates of primaries of binary systems among NEAs; the difference may be due to the apparently more evolved population of binaries among MB/MC asteroids.     

Looking a gift horse in the mouth: Evaluation of wide-field asteroid photometric surveys

It has recently become possible to do a photometric survey of many asteroids at once, rather than observing single asteroids one (or occasionally a couple) at a time. We evaluate two such surveys. Dermawan et al. (Dermawan et al. [2011]. Publ. Astron. Soc. Jpn. 63, S555–S576) observed one night on the Subaru 8.2 m telescope, and Masiero et al. (Masiero, J., Jedicke, R., Durech, J., Gwen, S., Denneau, L., Larsen, J. [2009]. Icarus 204, 145–171) observed six nights over 2 weeks with the 3.6 m CFHT. Dermawan claimed 83 rotation periods from 127 detected asteroids; Masiero et al. claimed 218 rotation periods from 828 detections. Both teams claim a number of super-fast rotators (P < 2.2 h) among main belt asteroids larger than 250 m diameter, some up to several km in diameter. This would imply that the spin rate distribution of main belt asteroids differs from like-sized NEAs, that there are larger super-fast rotators (monolithic asteroids) in the main belt than among NEAs. Here we evaluate these survey results, applying the same criteria for reliability of results that we apply to all results listed in our Lightcurve Database (Warner, B.D., Harris, A.W., Pravec, P. [2009a]. Icarus 202, 134–146). In doing so, we assigned reliability estimates judged sufficient for inclusion in statistical studies for only 27 out of 83 (33%) periods claimed by Dermawan, and only 87 out of 218 (40%) periods reported by Masiero et al.; none of the super-fast rotators larger than about 250 m diameter claimed by either survey received a reliability rating judged sufficient for analysis. We find no reliable basis for the claim of different rotation properties between main belt and near-Earth asteroids. Our analysis presents a cautionary message for future surveys.     

The Yarkovsky-driven origin of near-Earth asteroids

We investigate the relevance of the Yarkovsky effect for the origin of kilometer and multikilometer near-Earth asteroids (NEAs). The Yarkovsky effect causes a slow migration in semimajor axis of main belt asteroids, some of which are therefore captured into powerful resonances and transported to the NEA space. With an innovative simulation scheme, we determine that in the current steady-state situation 100-160 bodies with H < 18 (roughly larger than 1 km) enter the 3/1 resonance per million years and 40-60 enter the ν₆ resonance. The ranges are due to uncertainties on relevant simulation parameters such as the time scales for collisional disruption and reorientation, their size dependence, and the strength of the Yarkovsky and YORP effects. These flux rates to the resonances are consistent with those independently derived by Bottke et al. (2002, Icarus 156, 399-433) with considerations based only on the NEA orbital distribution and dynamical lifetime. Our results have been obtained assuming that the main belt contains 1,300,000 asteroids with H < 18 and linearly scale with this number. Assuming that the cumulative magnitude distribution of main belt asteroids is N(< H) ∝ 10^γ′H with γ′ = 0.25 in the 15.5 < H < 18 range (consistent with the results of the SDSS survey), we obtain that the bodies captured into the resonances should have a similar magnitude distribution, but with exponent coefficient γ = 0.33-0.40. The lowest value is obtained taking into account the YORP effect, while higher values correspond to a weakened YORP or to YORP-less cases. These values of γ are all compatible with the debiased magnitude distributions of the NEAs according to Rabinowitz et al. (2000, Nature 403, 165-166), Bottke et al. (2000b, Science 288, 2190-2194), and Stuart (2001, Science 294, 1691-1693). Hence the Yarkovsky and YORP effects allow us to understand why the magnitude distribution of NEAs is only moderately steeper than that of the main belt population. The steepest main belt distribution that would still be compatible with the NEA distribution has exponent coefficient γ′ ∼ 0.3.     

Photometric survey of binary near-Earth asteroids

Photometric data on 17 binary near-Earth asteroids (15 of them are certain detections, two are probables) were analysed and characteristic properties of the near-Earth asteroid (NEA) binary population were inferred. We have found that binary systems with a secondary-to-primary mean diameter ratio Ds/Dp?0.18 concentrate among NEAs smaller than 2 km in diameter; the abundance of such binaries decreases significantly among larger NEAs. Secondaries show an upper size limit of Ds=0.5-1 km. Systems with Ds/Dp?0.5 are abundant but larger satellites are significantly less common. Primaries have spheroidal shapes and they rotate rapidly, with periods concentrating between 2.2 to 2.8 h and with a tail of the distribution up to ∼4 h. The fast rotators are close to the critical spin for rubble piles with bulk densities about 2 g/cm³. Orbital periods show an apparent cut-off at Porb∼11 h; closer systems with shorter orbital periods have not been discovered, which is consistent with the Roche limit for strengthless bodies. Secondaries are more elongated on average than primaries. Most, but not all, of their rotations appear to be synchronized with the orbital motion; nonsynchronous secondary rotations may occur especially among wider systems with Porb>20 h. The specific total angular momentum of most of the binary systems is similar to within ±20% and close to the angular momentum of a sphere with the same total mass and density, rotating at the disruption limit; this suggests that the binaries were created by mechanism(s) related to rotation near the critical limit and that they neither gained nor lost significant amounts of angular momentum during or since formation. A comparison with six small asynchronous binaries detected in the main belt of asteroids suggests that the population extends beyond the region of terrestrial planets, but with characteristics shifted to larger sizes and longer periods. The estimated mean proportion of binaries with Ds/Dp?0.18 among NEAs larger than 0.3 km is 15±4%. Among fastest rotating NEAs larger than 0.3 km with periods between 2.2 and 2.8 h, the mean proportion of such binaries is (66⁺¹⁰₋₁₂)%.     

Thermal inertia of near-Earth asteroids and implications for the magnitude of the Yarkovsky effect

Thermal inertia determines the temperature distribution over the surface of an asteroid and therefore governs the magnitude the Yarkovsky effect. The latter causes gradual drifting of the orbits of km-sized asteroids and plays an important role in the delivery of near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) from the main belt and in the dynamical spreading of asteroid families. At present, very little is known about the thermal inertia of asteroids in the km size range. Here we show that the average thermal inertia of a sample of NEAs in the km-size range is . Furthermore, we identify a trend of increasing thermal inertia with decreasing asteroid diameter, D. This indicates that the dependence of the drift rate of the orbital semimajor axis on the size of asteroids due to the Yarkovsky effect is a more complex function than the generally adopted D⁻¹ dependence, and that the size distribution of objects injected by Yarkovsky-driven orbital mobility into the NEA source regions is less skewed to smaller sizes than generally assumed. We discuss how this fact may help to explain the small difference in the slope of the size distribution of km-sized NEAs and main-belt asteroids.     

Influence of the YORP effect on rotation rates of near‐Earth asteroids

The distribution of near‐Earth asteroid (NEA) rotation rates differs considerably from the similar distribution of Main Belt asteroids (MBAs) by the presence of excesses of fast and slow rotators, which are not observed or not so prominent in the distribution for MBAs. Among possible reasons for the difference, there can be influence of solar radiation on spin rate of small NEAs, the so‐called “YORP effect,” which appears due to reflection, absorption, and IR re‐emission of the sunlight by an irregularly shaped rotating asteroid. It is known that the YORP‐effect action strongly depends on the amount of solar energy obtained by the body (insolation), its size, and albedo. The analysis of observation data has shown that: (1) the mean diameter of NEAs decreases from the middle of the distribution to its ends, that is, the excesses of slow rotators (ω ≤ 2 rev day^?1) and fast rotators (ω ≥ 8 rev day^?1) are composed of smaller NEAs than in the middle of the distribution; (2) NEAs of both excesses are in the orbits where their insolation is about 8–10% larger than that of NEAs in the middle of the distribution; and (3) the objects in both excesses have a little lower albedo on average than that of objects in the middle of the distribution. All these results qualitatively agree well with the YORP‐effect action and may be considered as independent arguments in favor of it.     

Do planetary encounters reset surfaces of near Earth asteroids?

Processes such as the solar wind sputtering and micrometeorite impacts can modify optical properties of surfaces of airless bodies. This explains why spectra of the main belt asteroids, exposed to these ‘space weathering’ processes over eons, do not match the laboratory spectra of ordinary chondrite (OC) meteorites. In contrast, an important fraction of Near Earth Asteroids (NEAs), defined as Q-types in the asteroid taxonomy, display spectral attributes that are a good match to OCs. Here we study the possibility that the Q-type NEAs underwent recent encounters with the terrestrial planets and that the tidal gravity (or other effects) during these encounters exposed fresh OC material on the surface (thus giving it the Q-type spectral properties). We used numerical integrations to determine the statistics of encounters of NEAs to planets. The results were used to calculate the fraction and orbital distribution of Q-type asteroids expected in the model as a function of the space weathering timescale, t_sw (see main text for definition), and maximum distance, r^∗, at which planetary encounters can reset the surface. We found that t_sw ∼ 10⁶ yr (at 1 AU) and r^∗ ∼ 5R_pl, where R_pl is the planetary radius, best fit the data. Values t_sw < 10⁵ yr would require that r^∗ > 20R_pl, which is probably implausible because these very distant encounters should be irrelevant. Also, the fraction of Q-type NEAs would be probably much larger than the one observed if t_sw > 10⁷ yr. We found that t_sw ∝ q², where q is the perihelion distance, expected if the solar wind sputtering controls t_sw, provides a better match to the orbital distribution of Q-type NEAs than models with fixed t_sw. We also discuss how the Earth magnetosphere and radiation effects such as YORP can influence the spectral properties of NEAs.     

EURONEAR: Data mining of asteroids and Near Earth Asteroids

Besides new observations, mining old photographic plates and CCD image archives represents an opportunity to recover and secure newly discovered asteroids, also to improve the orbits of Near Earth Asteroids (NEAs), Potentially Hazardous Asteroids (PHAs) and Virtual Impactors (VIs). These are the main research aims of the EURONEAR network. As stated by the IAU, the vast collection of image archives stored worldwide is still insufficiently explored, and could be mined for known NEAs and other asteroids appearing occasionally in their fields. This data mining could be eased using a server to search and classify findings based on the asteroid class and the discovery date as “precoveries” or “recoveries”. We built PRECOVERY, a public facility which uses the Virtual Observatory SkyBoT webservice of IMCCE to search for all known Solar System objects in a given observation. To datamine an entire archive, PRECOVERY requires the observing log in a standard format and outputs a database listing the sorted encounters of NEAs, PHAs, numbered and un‐numbered asteroids classified as precoveries or recoveries based on the daily updated IAU MPC database. As a first application, we considered an archive including about 13 000 photographic plates exposed between 1930 and 2005 at the Astronomical Observatory in Bucharest, Romania. Firstly, we updated the database, homogenizing dates and pointings to a common format using the JD dating system and J2000 epoch. All the asteroids observed in planned mode were recovered, proving the accuracy of PRECOVERY. Despite the large field of the plates imaging mostly 2.27° × 2.27° fields, no NEA or PHA could be encountered occasionally in the archive due to the small aperture of the 0.38m refractor insufficiently to detect objects fainter than V ∼ 15. PRECOVERY can be applied to other archives, being intended as a public facility offered to the community by the EURONEAR project. This is the first of a series of papers aimed to improve orbits of PHAs and NEAs using precovered data derived from archives of images to be data mined in collaboration with students and amateurs. In the next paper we will search the CFHT Legacy Survey, while data mining of other archives is planned for the near future (© 2009 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Are There Many Inactive Jupiter-Family Comets among the Near-Earth Asteroid Population?

We analyze the dynamical evolution of Jupiter-family (JF) comets and near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) with aphelion distances Q>3.5 AU, paying special attention to the problem of mixing of both populations, such that inactive comets may be disguised as NEAs. From numerical integrations for 2×10⁶ years we find that the half lifetime (where the lifetime is defined against hyperbolic ejection or collision with the Sun or the planets) of near-Earth JF comets (perihelion distances q<1.3 AU) is about 1.5×10⁵ years but that they spend only a small fraction of this time (∼ a few 10³ years) with q<1.3 AU. From numerical integrations for 5×10⁶ years we find that the half lifetime of NEAs in “cometary” orbits (defined as those with aphelion distances Q>4.5 AU, i.e., that approach or cross Jupiter's orbit) is 4.2×10⁵ years, i.e., about three times longer than that for near-Earth JF comets. We also analyze the problem of decoupling JF comets from Jupiter to produce Encke-type comets. To this end we simulate the dynamical evolution of the sample of observed JF comets with the inclusion of nongravitational forces. While decoupling occurs very seldom when a purely gravitational motion is considered, the action of nongravitational forces (as strong as or greater than those acting on Encke) can produce a few Enckes. Furthermore, a few JF comets are transferred to low-eccentricity orbits entirely within the main asteroid belt (Q<4 AU and q>2 AU). The population of NEAs in cometary orbits is found to be adequately replenished with NEAs of smaller Q's diffusing outward, from which we can set an upper limit of ∼20% for the putative component of deactivated JF comets needed to maintain such a population in steady state. From this analysis, the upper limit for the average time that a JF comet in near-Earth orbit can spend as a dormant, asteroid-looking body can be estimated to be about 40% of the time spent as an active comet. More likely, JF comets in near-Earth orbits will disintegrate once (or shortly after) they end their active phases.     

New Semi-Automated Photometric Telescope at the Skalnate Pleso Observatory

A semi-automated photometric telescope built at the Skalnate Pleso Observatory is described. In December 2000, the 0.3-m f/5 Zeiss astrograph was replaced by a 0.61-m f/4.3 mirror telescope equipped with a CCD camera. The observing programme is created to conform to the photometry of asteroids which are suspected to be of binary nature; photometry of NEAs and MBAs; a long-term photometry for theoretical modelling of the shape of asteroids; and photometry and astrometry of active comets and asteroids. Some results concerning the binary character of the asteroids are described in the paper.     

New findings on asteroid spin-vector distributions

The number of known spin vectors of main belt and near-Earth asteroids is regularly growing, including new objects, and updating the estimates concerning known cases, with the aid of new observations and of improved observational techniques. A reliable statistical analysis of the spin vectors is now possible. In general the poles (both for MB bodies and for NEAs) are not isotropically distributed, as some general theoretical considerations may predict. Main belt asteroids show a lack of poles close to the ecliptic plane. There is a marginally significant excess of prograde spinners in the 100-150 km size range, but interestingly there is not a statistically significant excess in the larger size range. Among NEAs, there is an excess of retrograde rotations. The distributions of longitudes of poles of both groups do not show statistically significant deviations from random. We discuss the possible physical implications of the various resulting pole anisotropies in terms of dynamical—mainly non-gravitational—effects, and point out the importance of new observational campaigns, mainly devoted to compute the poles of small bodies and of the members of asteroid dynamical families.     

Are Main-Belt Asteroids a Sufficient Source for the Earth-Approaching Asteroids?

This paper predicts the size distribution of the Earth-approaching asteroids with diameterd= 10 m to 10 km, assuming they originate as the fragments of main-belt asteroids with a cumulative size distribution proportional tod^−2.5and that they have self-similar fragmentation properties. The resulting distribution is dominated by “fast-track” bodies originating from parent asteroids with orbits close to the 3:1 mean-motion resonance with Jupiter. Because the dynamical lifetimes of these Earth approachers are shorter than their collisional lifetimes, their size distribution is nearly proportional tod^−3.0, the production distribution in the main belt. This prediction, however, is at odds with the Spacewatch observations. The observed distribution is relatively flat ford> ∼100 m, and relatively steep ford< ∼100 m, so that the number of Earth approachers withd∼ 10 m to 0.3 km is overestimated. If these populations are predominantly of main-belt origin, then the size distribution in the main belt is not a simple power law. A nonuniform size distribution with wave-like oscillations, possibly caused by a cutoff at small sizes, would lead to Earth approachers with a size distribution in better agreement with the observations. If such wave-like oscillations are realistic, then the main belt is sufficient to supply the observed number of Earth approachers throughout the observed size range.     

The Influence of the Orbital Evolution of Main Belt Asteroids on Their Spin Vectors

It was found that certain features in the observed spin vector distribution of main belt asteroids can be explained by the differences in the dynamical spin vector evolution between objects with high and low orbital inclinations. In particular, the deficiency of high-inclination objects whose spin vectors are close to the ecliptic plane can be accounted for.The present spin vector distribution of main belt asteroids is due to several factors connected with their collisional and dynamical evolution. In this paper, the influence of the orbital evolution on the spin axis of asteroids is examined in the case of 25 objects with typical main belt orbital evolution and 125 synthetic objects, during an integration over a time period of 1 Myr. This investigation produced the following general results:• The difference between maximum and minimum obliquity increases in an approximately linear fashion with increasing orbital inclination of the studied objects.• The inclination is the major factor influencing the magnitude of the obliquity variation. This variation is generally larger for asteroids with their initial spin vectors located close to the orbital plane.• In general, the regular obliquity differences are relatively insensitive to differences in the shape, composition, and spin rate of the asteroids.The result is compared with the properties of the observed spin vectors for 73 main belt asteroids and good agreement is found between the above results and the existing spin vector distribution.     

Asteroid sizes and albedos

The radiometric method of determining diameters of asteroids is reviewed, and a synthesis of radiometric and polarimetric measurements of the diameters and geometric albedos of a total of 187 asteroids is presented. All asteroids with diameters greater than 250 km are identified, and statistical studies can be carried out of the size distributions of different albedo classes down to 80-km diameter for the entire main asteroid belt (2.0–3.5 AU). The distribution of albedos is strongly bimodal, with mean albedos for the C and S groups of 0.035 and 0.15, respectively. The C asteroids outnumber the S at all sizes and all values of semi-major axis, increasing from a little over half the population inside 2.5 AU to more than 95% beyond 3.0 AU; for all objects with D > 70 km, the ratio C/(C+S) is 0.88 ± 0.04. More than half of all asteroids in this size range have a > 3.0 AU. The M asteroids constitute about 5% of the population for a < 3.0 AU, but no members of of this class have been identified in the outer belt. There are no significant differences between the distributions of C, S, and M asteroids for the largest asteroids (D > 200 km) and for those of intermediate size (200–270 km). The total mass in the belt, down to 70-km size, but excluding Ceres, is about 2 × 10²⁴ g. Evidence is presented that several large asteroids rotate in a prograde sense, and that a real difference existsbetween the bulk densities of Ceres and Vesta.     

Current state and development of the minor planets research in Nikolaev Astronomical Observatory

Regular positional observations of minor planets in Nikolaev Astronomical Observatory have been begun with installation of photographic Zone Astrograph in 1961. The observations of 19 selected minor planets up to 12 magnitude were obtained for 36 years. Accuracy of the photographic positions of minor planets is rather high, 0.15^′′-0.19^′′. These positions were used for improvement of the system of fundamental catalogue and determination of its orientation to the dynamical reference frame. CCD observations of asteroids have been begun at the Zone Astrograph in 2000. There was obtained about the same accuracy, as in photographic observations. During 2004-2006 NAO participated in international collaboration with TUBITAK National Observatory (Turkey) and Kazan State University (Russia) in positional and photometric observations of small Solar system bodies. About four thousands of CCD images for 58 asteroids of 11-18 mag were obtained with internal and external errors of 30-80 mas of a single determination. Some of these observations, as well as the observations of the Minor Planet Center, are being used for the current asteroid mass determinations in Nikolaev observatory. Available results allow us to consider the Russian-Turkish telescope RTT150 as a good candidate for ground-based astrometry support of the future space mission GAIA, moreover in the period before GAIA.     

EURONEAR: First results

The European Near Earth Asteroid Research (EURONEAR) is a project which envisions to build a coordinated network which will follow-up and recover potentially hazardous asteroids (PHAs) and near earth asteroids (NEAs). We aim to include in EURONEAR two automated 1 m telescopes located in Chile and Europe, in addition to other non-permanent facilities. Astrometry will be the main aim of the project in order to secure and follow-up newly discovered NEAs, also to recover PHAs at their second or following oppositions, while photometry of bright PHAs will bring information on their physical properties. In this paper, first we review briefly the existent and past NEAs programs. Next, we include the results obtained in 2006 from three observing runs at Pic du Midi using the 1 m telescope, Haute-Provence employing the 1.2 m telescope, and Bucharest using a small 23 cm telescope. These add a total of 153 positions for 16 PHAs and NEAs, which were accepted by Minor Planet Center. Recently, a 1 m telescope was allocated by ESO in La Silla to be automated and used as the Southern dedicated facility by EURONEAR.     

On the asteroid belt's orbital and size distribution

For absolute magnitudes greater than the current completeness limit of H-magnitude ∼15 the main asteroid belt's size distribution is imperfectly known. We have acquired good-quality orbital and absolute H-magnitude determinations for a sample of small main-belt asteroids in order to study the orbital and size distribution beyond H=15, down to sub-kilometer sizes (H>18). Based on six observing nights over a 11-night baseline we have detected, measured photometry for, and linked observations of 1087 asteroids which have one-week time baselines or more. The linkages allow the computation of full heliocentric orbits (as opposed to statistical distances determined by some past surveys). Judged by known asteroids in the field the typical uncertainty in the (a/e/i) orbital elements is less than 0.03 AU/0.03/0.5°. The distances to the objects are sufficiently well known that photometric uncertainties (of 0.3 magnitudes or better) dominate the error budget of their derived H-magnitudes. The detected asteroids range from HR=12-22 and provide a set of objects down to sizes below 1 km in diameter. We find an on-sky surface density of 210 asteroids per square degree in the ecliptic with opposition magnitudes brighter than mR=23, with the cumulative number of asteroids increasing by a factor of 10^0.27/mag from mR=18 down to the mR?23.5 limit of our survey. In terms of absolute H magnitudes, we find that beyond H=15 the belt exhibits a constant power-law slope with the number increasing proportional to ¹⁰0.30H from H?15 to 18, after which incompleteness begins in the survey. Examining only the subset of detections inside 2.5 AU, we find weak evidence for a mildly shallower slope for H=15-19.5. We provide the information necessary such that anyone wishing to model the main asteroid belt can compare a detailed model to our detected sample.     

Some results from the National Observatory of Turkey, Kazan State University, and Nikolaev Astronomical Observatory on small bodies of the solar system

A scientific collaboration between TÜB?TAK National Observatory (Turkey), Kazan State University (Russia) and Nikolaev Astronomical Observatory (Ukraine) involves observations of minor planets and near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) with the 1.5 m Russian-Turkish telescope (RTT150). Regular observations of selected asteroids in the range of 11-18 magnitudes began in 2004 with the view of determining masses of selected asteroids, improving the orbits of the NEAs, and studying physical characteristics of selected asteroids from photometric observations. More than 3000 positions of 53 selected asteroids and 11 NEAs have been obtained with an internal error in the range of 30-300 mas for a single determination. Photometric reductions of more than 4000 CCD frames are in progress. Masses of 21 asteroids were estimated through dynamical method using the ground-based optical observations, mainly from the RTT150 and Minor Planet Center. A comparison of the observational results from the RTT150 in 2004-2005 with observations of the same objects at other observatories allows us to conclude that RTT150 can be used for ground-based support in astrometry for the space mission GAIA.     

Lightcurve Analysis of Four New Monolithic Fast-Rotating Asteroids

We present lightcurves and analysis for four new monolithic fast-rotating asteroids: 2000 AG₆, 2000 DO₈, 2000 EB₁₄, and 2000 HB₂₄. Their rotation periods of 4.60, 1.30, 107.47, and 13.05 min place them well below the critical threshold for the rotation rate of strengthless prolate ellipsoids, as we demonstrate. These four objects join the five previously identified fast-rotating asteroids. The sharp segregation in spin rates between these nine objects and asteroids with more typical spin rates is somewhat puzzling. No observed objects larger than about 200 m spin with rates faster than the critical rate for strengthless prolate ellipsoids, while no objects smaller than 200 m have shown spin rates slower than this critical limit. We hypothesize that these small, fast-rotating objects are representative of the building blocks of the “rubble pile” asteroids and are in fact derived from impacts into already existing “rubble piles.”     

Linking the collisional history of the main asteroid belt to its dynamical excitation and depletion

The main belt is believed to have originally contained an Earth mass or more of material, enough to allow the asteroids to accrete on relatively short timescales. The present-day main belt, however, only contains ∼5×¹⁰⁻⁴ Earth masses. Numerical simulations suggest that this mass loss can be explained by the dynamical depletion of main belt material via gravitational perturbations from planetary embryos and a newly-formed Jupiter. To explore this scenario, we combined dynamical results from Petit et al. [Petit, J. Morbidelli, A., Chambers, J., 2001. The primordial excitation and clearing of the asteroid belt. Icarus 153, 338-347] with a collisional evolution code capable of tracking how the main belt undergoes comminution and dynamical depletion over 4.6 Gyr [Bottke, W.F., Durda, D., Nesvorny, D., Jedicke, R., Morbidelli, A., Vokrouhlický, D., Levison, H., 2005. The fossilized size distribution of the main asteroid belt. Icarus 175, 111-140]. Our results were constrained by the main belt's size-frequency distribution, the number of asteroid families produced by disruption events from diameter D>100 km parent bodies over the last 3-4 Gyr, the presence of a single large impact crater on Vesta's intact basaltic crust, and the relatively constant lunar and terrestrial impactor flux over the last 3 Gyr. We used our model to set limits on the initial size of the main belt as well as Jupiter's formation time. We find the most likely formation time for Jupiter was 3.3±2.6 Myr after the onset of fragmentation in the main belt. These results are consistent with the estimated mean disk lifetime of 3 Myr predicted by Haisch et al. [Haisch, K.E., Lada, E.A., Lada, C.J., 2001. Disk frequencies and lifetimes in young clusters. Astrophys. J. 553, L153-L156]. The post-accretion main belt population, in the form of diameter D?1000 km planetesimals, was likely to have been 160±40 times the current main belt's mass. This corresponds to 0.06-0.1 Earth masses, only a small fraction of the total mass thought to have existed in the main belt zone during planet formation. The remaining mass was most likely taken up by planetary embryos formed in the same region. Our results suggest that numerous D>200 km planetesimals disrupted early in Solar System history, but only a small fraction of their fragments survived the dynamical depletion event described above. We believe this may explain the limited presence of iron-rich M-type, olivine-rich A-type, and non-Vesta V-type asteroids in the main belt today. The collisional lifetimes determined for main belt asteroids agree with the cosmic ray exposure ages of stony meteorites and are consistent with the limited collisional evolution detected among large Koronis family members. Using the same model, we investigated the near-Earth object (NEO) population. We show the shape of the NEO size distribution is a reflection of the main belt population, with main belt asteroids driven to resonances by Yarkovsky thermal forces. We used our model of the NEO population over the last 3 Gyr, which is consistent with the current population determined by telescopic and satellite data, to explore whether the majority of small craters (D<0.1-1 km) formed on Mercury, the Moon, and Mars were produced by primary impacts or by secondary impacts generated by ejecta from large craters. Our results suggest that most small craters formed on these worlds were a by-product of secondary rather than primary impacts.