Vesta family
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The Vesta family (adj. Vestian;
Characteristics
The Vestian asteroids consist of
The family originated from an impact on asteroid 4 Vesta, with the giant south-polar crater the likely impact site. The family are thought to be the source of the HED meteorites.
The Vesta family also includes a few J-type asteroids (related to the V-type), which are thought to have come from the deeper layers of Vesta's crust, and are similar to the diogenite meteorites.
A
ap |
ep | ip
| |
---|---|---|---|
min | 2.26 AU | 0.075 | 5.6° |
max | 2.48 AU | 0.122 | 7.9° |
This gives the approximate boundaries of the family. At the present epoch, the range of osculating orbital elements of these core members is:
a |
e |
i
| |
---|---|---|---|
min | 2.26 AU | 0.035 | 5.0° |
max | 2.48 AU | 0.162 | 8.3° |
The Zappala 1995 analysis found 235 core members. A search of a recent proper-element database (AstDys) for 96,944 minor planets in 2005 yielded 6,051 objects (about 6% of the total) lying within the Vesta-family region as per the first table above.
Interlopers
Spectroscopic analyses have shown that some of the largest Vestians are in fact interlopers. They are not of the
References
- Zappalà, Vincenzo; Bendjoya, Philippe; Cellino, Alberto; Farinella, Paolo; and Froeschlé, Claude; Asteroid Families: Search of a 12,487-Asteroid Sample Using Two Different Clustering Techniques, Icarus, Volume 116, Issue 2 (August 1995), pages 291–314
- Bus, Schelte J.; and Binzel, Richard P.; Phase II of the Small Main-Belt Asteroid Spectroscopic Survey, Icarus Vo.. 158, p. 106 (2002). Data set online here.
- AstDys site. Proper elements for 96944 numbered minor planets.