Asteroid Families Close to Mean Motion Resonances: Dynamical Effects and Physical Implications
Abstract
Among the asteroid families which can be considered very reliable according to the results of the most recent and objective methods of statistical identification, some are located very close to mean motion resonances with Jupiter. A careful analysis of the dynamical behavior of the candidate members in proximity of the resonances, combined with the known kinematical properties of the families at different size ranges, strongly suggests that the global structure of some families could have been significantly affected by the resonance proximity. This is true even in the cases of mean motion resonances, which are not among the most efficient and fastest commonly known depleters of asteroidal orbits. The most outstanding results of this paper concern the Eos and the Themis family, affected, respectively, by the 9/4 and 2/1 resonances. Both families seem to have been significantly depleted by these two resonances. Among the families showing a quasi-isotropic structure, Gefion and Dora appear to have injected a substantial fraction of their original members into the 5/2 mean motion resonance, while Adeona seems to have been only marginally affected by the 8/3. On the other hand, the irregular and/or complex structures of the Eunomia, Nysa, and Maria families prevent us from drawing any definitive conclusion. Finally, for the family of Hygiea, a quite strong depleting role of the 2/1 resonance is also suggested.
- Publication:
-
Icarus
- Pub Date:
- November 1995
- DOI:
- 10.1006/icar.1995.1181
- Bibcode:
- 1995Icar..118..132M