Astronomers have almost doubled the number of famous young asteroid families. Through new orbital analysis, researchers found 63 new groups, all of which are less than 10 million years. In the past, 43 such families were known, now their number has reached 106. The study was published in Ikarus magazine.
The families of young asteroids are formed from the breakdown of larger asteroids or comets and include at least three bodies, similar orbital settings. They are usually less than 10-15 million years old, but the new analysis shows that most of the found groups have been formed less than a million years. They most often contain only 3-10 members, although the largest new family contains 58 asteroids.
Scientists have used a hierarchical clustering method of five coordinates to develop orbital data of 1.25 million bodies. Interestingly, more than half of the new families are already known within older groups. This is possible when a large family of one asteroid splits smaller fragments, creating a "family family inside the family."
Moreover, it turned out that, unlike most of the famous C-type (carbon) asteroids, new families are mainly made up of silicates and rocky rocky s-type bodies.
The authors emphasize that the found asteroids are only the top of the iceberg. More weak objects remain outside the possibility of telescopes, but researchers hope to discover them over time. This will help us to better understand the origins of meteorological, the evolution of the solar system and improve the accuracy of the forecasts of possible plementies of asteroids.
Translation:, Euromedia24.com:-In
