Abstract
We consider the secular effect of outgassing torques on the rotation of a comet nucleus. An averaging method is applied to obtain evolutionary equations which allow us to study the long-term variations in the nucleus spin state. Since the spin axis direction of 19P/Borrelly’s nucleus is close to the line of apsides direction, a simplified version of these equations can be written to analytically study the most important qualitative effects. In particular, a correlation between the drift of the rotation axis direction and the possible spin up/spin down of the nucleus is revealed.
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