Summary on Orientations of Rotation Axes

Abstract

To evaluate the precision of the previously determined coordinates of the rotation axes (table I) we should review the methods (originally developed for 433 Eros) and logic of the various authors. Table II contains pole coordinates of Eros and the sources of these data. A critical summary of the work will enable us to make some conclusions concerning the poles presented.There is general agreement that greatest rotational amplitude is observed when an asteroid is viewed equatorially, and we can detect three approaches to the determination of the Eros pole: the micrometer position angles observed by van den Bos and Finsen (1931); the graphic presentations used by Watson (1937), Stobbe (1940), and Rosenhagen (1932); and the mathematical model developed by Krug and Schrutka-Rechtenstamm (1936). These initial attempts yielded only approximate values, but the approximations were sometimes refined by analytical methods.