The YORP effect – 20 years of research

Rotation of minor bodies in planetary systems (asteroids, meteoroids) can be affected by electromagnetic radiation from their surface. In 2000, the effect has been described by D. Rubincam and named after Yarkovsky, O’Keefe, Radzievskii and Paddack (YORP). The talk will outline the development of the YORP studies, revealing the dependence of the effect on the shape, optical and thermal properties of the bodies. The interaction of the YORP with energy dissipation due to nonelastic deformations will be described. The present state of art, and future prospects will be outlined (with a significant dose of the speaker’s scepticism).