Binary asteroid population - 1. Angular momentum content

We compiled a list of estimated parameters of binary systems among asteroids from near-Earth to trojan orbits. In this paper, we describe the construction of the list, and we present results of our study of angular momentum content in binary asteroids. The most abundant binary population is that of close binary systems among near-Earth, Mars-crossing, and main belt asteroids that have a primary diameter of about 10 km or smaller. They have a total angular momentum very close to, but not generally exceeding, the critical limit for a single body in a gravity regime. This suggests that they formed from parent bodies spinning at the critical rate (at the gravity spin limit for asteroids in the size range) by some sort of fission or mass shedding. The Yarkovsky-O'Keefe-Radzievskii-Paddack (YORP) effect is a candidate to be the dominant source of spin-up to instability. Gravitational interactions during close approaches to the terrestrial planets cannot be a primary mechanism of formation of the binaries, but it may affect properties of the NEA part of the binary population. (c) 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.