Affiliation
Univ Arizona, Lunar & Planetary LabIssue Date
2019-03-15
Metadata
Show full item recordPublisher
ACADEMIC PRESS INC ELSEVIER SCIENCECitation
Nimmo, F., & Matsuyama, I. (2019). Tidal dissipation in rubble-pile asteroids. Icarus, 321, 715-721.Journal
ICARUSRights
© 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.Collection Information
This item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at repository@u.library.arizona.edu.Abstract
We develop a simple scaling argument for frictional dissipation in rubble-pile asteroids, parameterized as an effective dissipation factor Q. This scaling is combined with a prediction (Goldreich, P., Sari, R., 2009. Tidal evolution of rubble piles. Astrophys. J. 691, 54-60) for the tidal response amplitude, parameterized by the Love number k(2). We compare the combined scaling with k(2)/Q values inferred from asteroid binaries in which the semi-major axis is determined by a balance between tidal dissipation and the binary YORP (or BYORP) effect (Jacobson, S.A., Scheeres, D.J., 2011. Long-term stable equilibria for synchronous binary asteroids. Astrophys. J. Lett. 736, L19). The k(2)/Q scaling matches the inferred values if dissipation is confined to a regolith layer of thickness similar to 30 m, similar to the available asteroid regolith thickness estimates. The scaling suggests a regolith thickness that is independent of (or decreases slightly with) increasing asteroid radius; this result is consistent with at least one model of regolith generation via impacts.Note
12 month embargo; available online 12 December 2018.ISSN
00191035Version
Final accepted manuscriptAdditional Links
https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0019103518304500ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1016/j.icarus.2018.12.012