Article ID Journal Published Year Pages File Type
1782089 Planetary and Space Science 2008 8 Pages PDF
Abstract
The subject of equilibrium figures of rotating masses of fluid is here considered as applied to two bodies of a fully synchronized asteroidal system with its main purpose being to trace their forms, known as “Roche figures”. Many synchronous binary asteroids have been discovered in the last six years. In the present paper I will endeavor to apply theoretical results of the Roche problem to a few of these asteroidal systems. The most conspicuous trends are determined and discussed. From this it appears that these figures of equilibrium are a fair approximation to reality notwithstanding the irrelevance of the fluid hypothesis with regards to real solid bodies.
Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering Earth and Planetary Sciences Geophysics
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