Search for Asteroid-Asteroid Encounters

MAMMANA, L.; ORELLANA, R.

REVISTA MEXICANA DE ASTRONOMíA Y ASTROFíSICA

UNIV NACIONAL AUTONOMA MEXICO

Lugar: México; Año: 2001

0185-1101

Earlier studies about asteroids did not consider mutual interactionssince they assume a negligible asteroid mass. In 1966 Hertz took intoaccount for the first time the gravitational effects produced by anasteroid on another for mass determination. This gravitational actionbecomes relevant for enough effective encounters. The most efficientgravitational interaction is that produced in a large time interval andfor small distances. For each particular caseful it is relevant toperform a care analysis in order to determinate the feasibility in themass determination and improved orbital elements. In the present paperwe performed a search of asteroid-asteroid encounters occurred in thetwenty century for the first 3000 numbered asteroids . Of all encounterswe have selected only those asteroid pairs in which one of the asteroidshas a diameter larger than 200 km and the other one (the smaller) anobservational interval of at least ten years.