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| Detecting YORP Effect with Photometry: (1862) Apollo |
| Presentation Time: Monday, 11:05 a.m. - 11:15 a.m. |
Mikko Kaasalainen1, J. Durech2, B. D. Warner3, Y. Krugly4, N. Gaftonyuk5, D. Higgins6
1Univ. of Helsinki, Finland, 2Charles University, Czech Republic, 3Palmer Divide Obs., 4Kharkiv National University, Ukraine, 5Crimean Astrophysical Observatory, Ukraine, 6Hunters Hill Observatory, Australia. |
| Presentation Number: 05.04 |
The long timeline of photometric observations allows the precise determination of an asteroid's rotational state, including the
acceleration or deceleration related to the YORP effect as in the case of (1862) Apollo (Kaasalainen et al. 2007, Nature 446, 420). Though the YORP force is minuscule, its effect on the observed rotational phase may be easily detectable. However, the apparent phase offset from constant-period assumption is always dependent on the relative epoch weights of the dataset and is not necessarily accurately translatable to YORP strength. Thus, more important than the offset is the rigorous spin parameter estimation from the full inversion of photometric data.
We update the 1980-2005 YORP acceleration value of Apollo with new 2007 observations, and note that the effect is clearly detected with inversion even if we exclude the lightcurves with a large phase offset. The acceleration of Apollo's rotation implies that the asteroid will break up in the future and may have already done so in the past. |
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