Inner belt asteroids in the spin-orbital resonance

Context: Slivan (2002) determined spin state of ten asteroids in the Koronis family. Surprisingly, all four asteroids with prograde sense of rotation were shown to have spin axes nearly parallel in the inertial space. All asteroids with retrograde sense of rotation had large obliquities and rotation periods either short or long. It was shown that Yarkovsky-O'Keefe-Radzievskii-Paddack (YORP) effect can explain all these peculiar facts. In particular, it drives spin axes of the prograde rotators to be captured in a secular spin-orbital resonance known as Cassini state 2. Vokrouhlický et al. (2002) dubbed these configurations "Slivan states". Aims: A question arises whether Slivan states could exist also in other regions of the main asteroid belt, in particular its inner part, where observations are most easily obtained. Here, however, dynamical difficulties arise due to convergence of the proper frequency s and the planetary frequency s6. We investigate possibilities of a long-term stable capture in the Slivan state in the inner part of the main belt. Method: We used SWIFT integrator to determine orbital evolution of selected asteroids in the inner part of the main belt. In the case of 20 Massalia, we observed the asteroid in 2011, and used these new data to help better solve the rotation state using the..

Recent detections of the YORP effect and their further possibilities

Radiation forces and torques can, on a long term, modify translational and rotational motion of small asteroids and meteoroids. In this thesis I focuse on the radiation torques dubbed the Yarkovsky-O'Keefe-Radzievskii-Paddack (YORP) effect. In particular, my principal goal was to analyse available photometric database of small asteroids and suggest candidate objects for which the YORP effect could be directly detected during the next few years. The structure of the thesis is as follows: (i) in the Introduction I discuss general role of radiation forces and torques in the motion of small bodies in the Solar system, (ii) next, in Section 2, I introduce observation methods for determination of the rotation state of asteroids and the way how YORP may exhibit itself in such measurements, and (iii) finally, in Section 3, I present few candidates for the YORP effect detection. Based on this selection procedure, I obtained ligthcurves of a small near-Earth asteroid (3554) Amun from February till April 2011. These observations were performed using the 65cm telescope of the Astronomical Institute of Charles University located at Ondrejov observatory. Together with available data from Amun's 2009 and 2010 oppositions, the 2011 photometry should serve for shape and pole reconstruction of this body. The YORP effect..

Inner belt asteroids in the spin-orbital resonance

Context: Slivan (2002) determined spin state of ten asteroids in the Koronis family. Surprisingly, all four asteroids with prograde sense of rotation were shown to have spin axes nearly parallel in the inertial space. All asteroids with retrograde sense of rotation had large obliquities and rotation periods either short or long. It was shown that Yarkovsky-O'Keefe-Radzievskii-Paddack (YORP) effect can explain all these peculiar facts. In particular, it drives spin axes of the prograde rotators to be captured in a secular spin-orbital resonance known as Cassini state 2. Vokrouhlický et al. (2002) dubbed these configurations "Slivan states". Aims: A question arises whether Slivan states could exist also in other regions of the main asteroid belt, in particular its inner part, where observations are most easily obtained. Here, however, dynamical difficulties arise due to convergence of the proper frequency s and the planetary frequency s6. We investigate possibilities of a long-term stable capture in the Slivan state in the inner part of the main belt. Method: We used SWIFT integrator to determine orbital evolution of selected asteroids in the inner part of the main belt. In the case of 20 Massalia, we observed the asteroid in 2011, and used these new data to help better solve the rotation state using the..

Inner belt asteroids in the spin-orbital resonance

Context: Slivan (2002) determined spin state of ten asteroids in the Koronis family. Surprisingly, all four asteroids with prograde sense of rotation were shown to have spin axes nearly parallel in the inertial space. All asteroids with retrograde sense of rotation had large obliquities and rotation periods either short or long. It was shown that Yarkovsky-O'Keefe-Radzievskii-Paddack (YORP) effect can explain all these peculiar facts. In particular, it drives spin axes of the prograde rotators to be captured in a secular spin-orbital resonance known as Cassini state 2. Vokrouhlický et al. (2002) dubbed these configurations "Slivan states". Aims: A question arises whether Slivan states could exist also in other regions of the main asteroid belt, in particular its inner part, where observations are most easily obtained. Here, however, dynamical difficulties arise due to convergence of the proper frequency s and the planetary frequency s6. We investigate possibilities of a long-term stable capture in the Slivan state in the inner part of the main belt. Method: We used SWIFT integrator to determine orbital evolution of selected asteroids in the inner part of the main belt. In the case of 20 Massalia, we observed the asteroid in 2011, and used these new data to help better solve the rotation state using the..