Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Nov 2006
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006aj....132.1950n&link_type=abstract
The Astronomical Journal, Volume 132, Issue 5, pp. 1950-1958.
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
26
Minor Planets, Asteroids
Scientific paper
Asteroids in our solar system formed in a dynamically quiescent disk, but their orbits became gravitationally stirred enough by Jupiter to lead to high-speed collisions. As a result, several dozen large asteroids have been disrupted by impacts over the past several gigayears and have produced groups of fragments called asteroid families. Here we report three new candidates for asteroid families that were formed by collisions occurring in the last 1 Myr. According to our modeling of the past orbital histories of known cluster members, we estimate that the Emilkowalski, 1992 YC2, and Lucascavin clusters are 220+/-30, 50-250, and 300-800 kyr old, respectively. Together with the previously identified Datura cluster, estimated to be 450+/-50 kyr old, they are the most recent asteroid breakups ever discovered in the main belt. Astronomical observations of identified family members can be used to better understand impact physics, asteroid composition, and surface-aging processes. Discovered breakups may also be important sources of interplanetary dust.
Nesvorný David
Vokrouhlicky David
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