Peculiar Euphrosyne
- UNESP, Univ. Estadual Paulista, Grupo de dinâmica Orbital e Planetologia, Guaratinguetá, SP, 12516-410 (Brazil)
The asteroid (31) Euphrosyne is the largest body of its namesake family, and it contains more than 99% of the family mass. Among large asteroid families, the Euphrosyne group is peculiar because of its quite steep size-frequency distribution (SFD), significantly depleted in large- and medium-sized asteroids (8 < D < 12 km). The current steep SFD of the Euphrosyne family has been suggested to be the result of a grazing impact in which only the farthest, smallest members failed to accrete. The Euphrosyne family is, however, also very peculiar because of its dynamics: near its center it is crossed by the ν{sub 6} = g – g {sub 6} linear secular resonance, and it hosts the largest population (140 bodies) of asteroids in ν{sub 6} antialigned librating states (or Tina-like asteroids) in the main belt. In this work we investigated the orbital evolution of newly obtained members of the dynamical family, with an emphasis on its interaction with the ν{sub 6} resonance. Because of its unique resonant configuration, large- and medium-sized asteroids tend to migrate away from the family orbital region faster than small-sized objects, which were ejected farther away from the family center. As a consequence, the SFD of the Euphrosyne family becomes steeper in time with a growing depletion in the number of the largest family members. We estimate that the current SFD could be attained from a typical, initial SFD on timescales of 500 Myr, consistent with estimates of the family age obtained with other independent methods.
- OSTI ID:
- 22365209
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 792, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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