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arXiv · 1310.3617

Asteroid spin-axis longitudes from the Lowell Observatory database

E. Bowell·D. A. Oszkiewicz·L. H. Wasserman·K. Muinonen·A. Penttilä·D. E. Trilling
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Abstract

By analyzing brightness variation with ecliptic longitude and using the Lowell Observatory photometric database, we estimate spin-axis longitudes for more than 350 000 asteroids. Hitherto, spin-axis longitude estimates have been made for fewer than 200 asteroids. We investigate longitude distributions in different dynamical groups and asteroid families. We show that asteroid spin-axis longitudes are not isotropically distributed as previously considered. We find that the spin-axis longitude distribution for main-belt asteroids is clearly non-random, with an excess of longitudes from the interval 30{\deg}-110{\deg} and a paucity between 120{\deg}-180{\deg}. The explanation of the non-isotropic distribution is unknown at this point. Further studies have to be conducted to determine if the shape of the distribution can be explained by observational bias, selection effects, a real physical process or other mechanism.

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E. Bowell, D. A. Oszkiewicz, L. H. Wasserman, K. Muinonen, A. Penttilä, D. E. Trilling. 2013-10-14. Asteroid spin-axis longitudes from the Lowell Observatory database. https://doi.org/10.1111/maps.12230

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