Mutual Gravitational and Collisional Scattering of Bodies in the Asteroid Belt

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Abstract
A calculation is made of the cumulative effect of numerous small orbital perturbations caused by gravitational and collisional deflections of meteorites by other bodies in the asteroid belt. It is found that in a time equal to the age of the solar system the mean change in perihelion distance caused by gravitational perturbation is of the order of 10-4 A. U. This phenomenon is consequently of negligible importance in removing meteorites from the asteroid belt. This conclusion is in disagreement with a result reported in the recent literature. The calculated mean change in perihelion distance caused by multiple collisional scattering is somewhat higher, about 10-3 A. U. It is conceivable that a small fraction of very strong objects such as iron meteorites in highly inclined and eccentric orbits may be deflected into Mars-crossing orbits by this mechanism.

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