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How to Explore the Yarkovsky Effect 3D Explorer
Open the Yarkovsky Effect 3D Explorer, pick a rotation sense with the selector, and scrub or play the elapsed-years slider while a spinning, irregular asteroid's thermal-lag hot spot pushes its orbit ring in or out.
- Open https://freetoolonline.com/space-3d/yarkovsky-effect.html and wait for the asteroid, the Sun marker, and the orbit ring to render.
- Use the Rotation selector to pick Retrograde (Bennu, measured) or Prograde (teaching mirror).
- Drag the Elapsed years slider (0-100) or click "Play / Pause Years" to watch the orbit ring shrink (retrograde) or grow (prograde).
- Watch the recoil-thrust arrow at the hot spot - red when the push shrinks the orbit, green when it grows the orbit.
- Read the facts panel for the current rotation's signed rate, the cumulative-drift readout, and Bennu's real measured figures.
- Switch rotation sense and compare the two orbit-ring animations side by side.
Key published figures
| Figure | Value |
|---|---|
| Bennu semimajor-axis drift | -284.6 +/- 1.5 m/year (Chesley et al. 2014, JPL-refined post-OSIRIS-REx) |
| 1999-2012 measured shift | about 160-185 km |
| Thrust magnitude | "about the weight of three grapes" (NASA JPL) |
| Dominant size range | asteroids roughly 10 m to 10 km across |
Next: the when guide or vs alternatives. Open the Yarkovsky Effect 3D Explorer.
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