Gas-driven contraction of a planetesimal binary

For a weakly perturbed circular binary planetesimal, the constant differential headwind does zero work averaged over the unperturbed orbit. Orbit-averaged drag work givesWith constant aerodynamic stopping times, $a(t)=a_0{e}^{-t/\tau }$. This averaging assumes drag is slow compared with the orbital period and does not appreciably distort the circular orbit within one period.