Physics
Scientific paper
Apr 1981
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1981natur.290..664d&link_type=abstract
Nature, vol. 290, Apr. 23, 1981, p. 664-668.
Physics
20
Asteroid Belts, Gravitational Effects, Resonance, Solar Orbits, Distribution Functions, Jupiter (Planet), Magnitude, Statistical Distributions, Asteroids, Asteroid Belt, Resonance, Statistical Analysis, Formation, Orbits, Kirkwood Gaps, Distribution, Procedure, Eccentricity, Inclination, Magnitude, Frequency, Hirayama Asteroids, Density, Gravity Effects, Data, Themis Asteroids, Origin, Hypotheses
Scientific paper
Statistical techniques are applied to asteroid orbital data in order to define the characteristics of the Kirkwood gaps in the distribution of the asteroids. A significant tendency is found throughout the distribution of main-belt asteroids for the eccentricities and inclinations of asteroid orbits to increase away from the gaps. These effects are not confined to the immediate vicinities of the resonances and are not caused by observational selection effects, nor is there evidence that the magnitude-frequency distribution of the asteroids changes near the gaps. Evidence is given for the existence of gaps in Hirayama families, possibly of a different nature from the classical Kirkwood gaps at locations corresponding to high order commensurabilities with Jupiter. The results support the theory that the Kirkwood gaps were formed by gravitational processes acting on individual asteroids throughout their lifetimes.
Dermott Stanley F.
Murray Carl D.
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