Constraining Asteroid Thermal Properties Through Analysis of Spin-Orbital Correlations Within Families

Abstract: We investigate the coupled spin-orbital evolution of asteroids driven by the Yarkovsky and YORP effects, focusing on how these processes alter the semimajor axes, spin periods, and obliquities of asteroids within families. By treating asteroid families as natural laboratories, we analyze the correlations between semimajor axis dispersion ($\Delta a$) and spin properties within 19 well-characterized families to understand the interplay between Yarkovsky-driven orbital drift and YORP-driven spin modification. Using a consolidated dataset of asteroid properties, we calculate intra-family correlations between $\Delta a$, diameter, spin period, and obliquity, revealing significant relationships indicative of these processes. Notably, we observe a strong correlation between obliquity and $\Delta a$ in several families, consistent with theoretical expectations. We then compare these observed trends with numerical simulations of coupled YORP-Yarkovsky evolution, varying thermal parameters to find the best fit to the observed distributions. Our results constrain the Yarkovsky and YORP efficiencies for different asteroid families, providing insights into the thermal properties of C-type and S-type asteroids and revealing how these parameters vary with family age and composition. \

Subjects:	astro-ph.EP; physics.space-ph
Cite as:	PX:2508.00052