Astronomy8 papers
Binary asteroids
IŽ
Ivana Milić Žitnik
All Reviews
AstronomyMust Read
intermediate
Asteroid Systems: Binaries, Triples, and Pairs
J.-L. Margot et al. (2015)
- Published
- Jan 1, 2015
- Journal
- Asteroids IV
- DOI
- 10.2458/azu_uapress_9780816532131-ch019
At a Glance
A synthesis of evidence that small asteroid binaries, triples, and pairs mainly form via YORP-driven rotational fission, not impacts.
Summary
This review consolidates a decade of observations and dynamical theory showing that many small (≲20 km) asteroid systems—binaries, triples, and unbound pairs—share signatures of formation by rotational fission after YORP spin-up. It links radar, lightcurve, spectroscopy, imaging, and occultation results to a single evolutionary framework where post-fission dynamics, tides, and BYORP can yield the observed diversity of system architectures. In contrast, it argues that satellites of large (≳20 km) main-belt asteroids are best explained by collisional formation, based on their low mass ratios and angular momentum content. The synthesis matters because it elevates rotational disruption to a population-shaping process for small bodies and provides practical observational diagnostics (spin states, angular momentum, pole anisotropy, mass-ratio limits) to discriminate formation pathways.
Method Snapshot
Integrative review combining multi-technique observational constraints with analytical and numerical dynamical models of rotational fission, tides, and radiative torques.
Background
Familiarity with asteroid physical properties and small-body dynamics (YORP/BYORP, tides, collisions, and basic orbital mechanics).