Asteroids may shoot pebbles into shallow temporary orbits, boffins believe

In 2019, scientists clocked something they'd never seen before: an asteroid named Bennu appeared to be popping off swarms of pebbles. Research published Thursday may go some way to explain why. The pebbles were observed by NASA's Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-Rex) mission …

[MiguelC]

Philip Heck?

Is he Phil, the Prince of Insufficient Light?

[Neil Barnes]

The orbits degrade

Why? Gravitational perturbations? Tiny atmospheric drag? Do asteroids have atmospheres, if they're small enough to lose pebbles with some regularity?

Perhaps it's motion in curved space (El Reg passim)

[Tessier-Ashpool]

Re: The orbits degrade

I would imagine it's because the parent body is very lumpy and, hence, generates a significant non-uniform gravitational field. The path of anything moving in a field like that significantly departs from a regular elliptical orbit.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Tiny atmospheric drag?

Possibly, I suppose - presumably there will be at least some slight outgassing or evaporation due to sunlight...

[Mayday]

Sure they aren’t arachnids?

Bug meteors, “hurling their spore through space”

Would you like to know more:

https://starshiptroopers.fandom.com/wiki/Arachnid