Rotating asteroids typically have short rotation periods, or "spin rates". Most asteroids have rotation periods between 2 and 20 hours.[1][2] As of 2017, a group of approximately 300 bodies – most of them are stony near-Earth asteroids with small diameters of barely 1 kilometer– have an estimated period of less than 2.2 hours. According to the Minor Planet Center, most smaller bodies are thought to be rubble piles – conglomerations of smaller pieces, loosely coalesced under the influence of gravity. Bodies below a period of 2.2 hours – also known as the "cohesionless spin-barrier" – can not be merely held together by self-gravity, but must be formed of a contiguous solid, as they would fly apart otherwise.[2] Via the deduction of strength boundary limits, rotation periods give an insight into the body's internal composition, and, from its degree of fracture, its collisional history can be inferred.[3]
Fastest rotators[]
| # | Minor planet designation | Rotation period | Δmag | Quality (U) |
Orbit or family | Spectral type | Diameter (km) |
Abs. mag (H) |
Refs | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (seconds) | (hours) | |||||||||
| 1. | 2014 RC | 16 | 0.004389 | 0.10 | n.a. | NEO | S | 0.01 | 26.80 | LCDB · MPC |
| 2. | 2015 SV6 | 18 | 0.00490 | 0.74 | 2 | NEO | S | 0.01 | 27.70 | LCDB · MPC |
| 3. | 2010 JL88 | 25 | 0.0068295 | 0.52 | 3 | NEO | S | 0.01 | 26.80 | LCDB · MPC |
| 4. | 2017 EK | 30 | 0.0083 | 0.30 | 2 | NEO | S | 0.05 | 24.10 | LCDB · MPC |
| 5. | 2010 WA | 31 | 0.0085799 | 0.22 | 3 | NEO | S | 0.00 | 30.00 | LCDB · MPC |
| 6. | 2016 GE1 | 34 | 0.009438 | 0.13 | 2 | NEO | S | 0.01 | 26.60 | LCDB · MPC |
| 7. | 2008 HJ | 43 | 0.01185 | 0.80 | 3- | NEO | S | 0.02 | 25.80 | LCDB · MPC |
| 8. | 2009 TM8 | 43 | 0.012 | – | n.a. | NEO | S | 0.01 | 28.40 | LCDB · MPC |
| 9. | 2015 SU | 46 | 0.0127 | 0.20 | 2- | NEO | S | 0.03 | 25.40 | LCDB · MPC |
| 10. | 2010 SK13 | 52 | 0.0144 | – | n.a. | NEO | S | 0.01 | 27.40 | LCDB · MPC |
| 11. | 2009 BF2 | 57 | 0.01593 | 0.80 | 3 | NEO | S | 0.02 | 25.90 | LCDB · MPC |
| 12. | 2016 GS2 | 66 | 0.0182725 | 0.06 | 1 | NEO | S | 0.08 | 23.00 | LCDB · MPC |
| 13. | 2010 TG19 | 70 | 0.0193935 | 1.10 | 3 | NEO | S | 0.05 | 23.90 | LCDB · MPC |
| 14. | 2008 WA14 | 70 | 0.0195 | – | n.a. | NEO | S | 0.08 | 23.00 | LCDB · MPC |
References[]
- ↑ "LCDB: Summary Table Query Form". Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB). http://www.minorplanet.info/PHP/lcdbsummaryquery.php. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "About Light Curves". ALCDEF – Asteroid Lightcurve Photometry Database. http://alcdef.org. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
- ↑ Ryan, Eileen V.; Ryan, W. H. (October 2010). "Rotation Rates of Very Small Near-Earth Asteroids". American Astronomical Society 42: 1086. Bibcode: 2010DPS....42.6003R. http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/bib_query?bibcode=2010DPS....42.6003R. Retrieved 20 September 2016.