Abstract

International audiencePhotometric observations of the asteroid (99942) Apophis taken from December 2012 to April 2013 revealed that it is in a non-principal axis rotation state. We constructed a numerical model of the asteroid's shape and rotation. The asteroid is in a short-axis mode (SAM) of excited rotation. The precession and rotation periods are P_phi = 27.38 ± 0.07 h and P_psi = 263 ± 6 h, respectively. The rotation is retrograde with the angular momentum vector's ecliptic longitude and latitude of 250° and -75° (the uncertainty area is approximately an ellipse with the major and minor semiaxes of 27° and 14°, respectively)

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    Last time updated on 08/10/2022
    Last time updated on 08/10/2022