Re: [meteorite-list] Minor Planet families

Hi Graham: I am far from an asteroid dynamics person, but many (but not all) asteroid families tend to share compositional similarities and so may very well be remnants of larger objects that have recently been broken up in a collisional event. The families are usually (but not always) named for

Re: [meteorite-list] Minor Planet families

To elaborate on Rob's and Larry's comments, a further complication is that asteroids are placed into classes based on two major criteria: orbit and composition. The orbital classifications (like Apollo) are mainly determined by ratios of specific orbital elements. The compositional classes are

Re: [meteorite-list] Minor Planet families

Thanks to everybody for their enlightening posts on this questionanswering many aspects that I had wondered aboutan interesting thread. Graham On Tue, Feb 26, 2013 at 2:59 PM, Chris Peterson c...@alumni.caltech.edu wrote: To elaborate on Rob's and Larry's comments, a further

Re: [meteorite-list] Minor Planet families

Graham and list, For some easy reading on this subject I highly recommend Meteorites and Their Parent Bodies, authored by Harry Y. McSween, Jr.; specifically chapter 8, 'A Space Odyssey'. By discussing impact age, orbit properties, orbital resonance (mean-motion and secular) and escape hatches

[meteorite-list] Minor Planet families

Hi Graham, Thanks Robso the named groups at the moment just represent similar orbiting asteroids which over time have settled into that orbit over time after they were nudged from the asteroid belt ... The asteroid belt is a pretty broad term. Between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter are