YORP Effect, Peanuts And Itokawa: The Anatomy Of An Asteroid
Wednesday, February 5, 2014 - 12:51
in Astronomy & Space
In 2005,the Japanese spacecraft Hayabusa revealed that the near-Earth asteroid (25143) Itokawa has a strange peanut shape, leading to questions about why. Now, using ground-based observations, a group has measured the speed at which Itokawa spins and how that spin rate is changing over time and combined these observations with theoretical work on how asteroids radiate heat. read more