Asteroid debris: Temporary capture and escape orbits

摘要

We investigate the dynamical behaviour of debris ejected from the surface of an asteroid, due to a generic - natural or artificial - surface process. We make an extensive statistical study of the dynamics of particles flowing from the asteroid. We observe different behaviours: particles which fall again on the asteroid surface, or rather escape from its gravitational field or are temporary trapped in orbit around the asteroid. The tests are made by varying different parameters, like the size of the asteroid, its eccentricity, the angular velocity of the asteroid, the area-to-mass ratio of the debris.