Selection effects in the discovery of NEAs
Abstract
To highlight discovery selection effects, we consider four NEA subpopulations: (a) ``Taurid asteroids'', the Apollos with orbits similar to those of 2P/Encke and of the Taurid meteoroid complex; (b) Atens, to which we add the Inner Earth Objects; (c) non-Taurid Apollos; (d) Amors. The ``Taurid asteroids`` are identified by Asher et al. (1993) with a reduced version of the D-criterion (Southworth and Hawkins 1963), involving only a, e and i: \begin{displaymath}D=\sqrt{\left(\frac{a-2.1}{3}\right)^2+(e-0.82)^2+\left(2\sin{\frac{i-4^\circ}{2}}\right)^2}\leq0.25.\end{displaymath} It turns out that the distribution of the longitudes of perihelion ϖ of NEAs with D<0.25 is significantly non-random, due to the existence of two groups whose apse lines are approximately aligned with those of 2P/Encke and of (2212) Hephaistos.
- Publication:
-
Highlights of Astronomy
- Pub Date:
- March 2015
- DOI:
- 10.1017/S1743921314011910
- Bibcode:
- 2015HiA....16..490V