Abstract
Tidal dissipation in a celestial body can be used to probe its internal structure. Tides govern the orbital evolution of binary systems and therefore constraints on the interior of binary system members can be derived by knowing the age and tidal state of the binary system. For asteroids, age estimates are challenging due to a lack of direct observation of their surface. However, the age of asteroid pairs formed by rotational fission of a parent body can be derived from dynamical modeling, and as such can be used to constrain the age of binary systems existing within asteroid pairs. We study 13 binary asteroid systems existing in asteroid pairs by modeling their tidal locking and eccentricity damping timescales from tidal dissipation in the primaries and secondaries. We consider the impact of thermal torques on these timescales from the YORP and BYORP effects. The resulting constraints on the tidal dissipation ratio Q/k2 are compared to monolithic and rubble pile asteroid theories, showing that all secondaries are consistent with rubble piles with regolith layers greater than 3 m and suggest that Q/k2 for rubble piles increases with radius. A particular case is the first bound secondary of asteroid (3749) Balam, whose Q/k2 is constrained to be between 2.7 ×104 and 1.4 ×106, consistent with a rubble-pile with a regolith thickness between 30 m and 100 m.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.