Koronis family
Encyclopedia
]
The Koronis family is a family of asteroid
s in the main belt
between Mars
and Jupiter
. They are thought to have been formed at least two billion years ago in a catastrophic collision between two larger bodies. The largest known (208 Lacrimosa
) is about 41 km (25.5 mi) in diameter. The Koronis family travels in a cluster along the same orbit. Over 300 have been found but only about 20 are larger than 20 km in diameter.
On August 28, 1993, the Galileo spacecraft
visited a member of this family, 243 Ida
.
The Koronis family is a family of asteroid
Asteroid
Asteroids are a class of small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun. They have also been called planetoids, especially the larger ones...
s in the main belt
Asteroid belt
The asteroid belt is the region of the Solar System located roughly between the orbits of the planets Mars and Jupiter. It is occupied by numerous irregularly shaped bodies called asteroids or minor planets...
between Mars
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
and Jupiter
Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest planet within the Solar System. It is a gas giant with mass one-thousandth that of the Sun but is two and a half times the mass of all the other planets in our Solar System combined. Jupiter is classified as a gas giant along with Saturn,...
. They are thought to have been formed at least two billion years ago in a catastrophic collision between two larger bodies. The largest known (208 Lacrimosa
208 Lacrimosa
208 Lacrimosa is a main-belt asteroid. It is classified as an S-type asteroid.It is also one of the largest members of the Koronis asteroid family and probably a piece of the original asteroid which was shattered in an ancient impact that created the family....
) is about 41 km (25.5 mi) in diameter. The Koronis family travels in a cluster along the same orbit. Over 300 have been found but only about 20 are larger than 20 km in diameter.
On August 28, 1993, the Galileo spacecraft
Galileo spacecraft
Galileo was an unmanned spacecraft sent by NASA to study the planet Jupiter and its moons. Named after the astronomer and Renaissance pioneer Galileo Galilei, it was launched on October 18, 1989 by the Space Shuttle Atlantis on the STS-34 mission...
visited a member of this family, 243 Ida
243 Ida
243 Ida is an asteroid in the Koronis family of the asteroid belt. It was discovered on 29 September 1884 by Johann Palisa and named after a nymph from Greek mythology. Later telescopic observations categorized Ida as an S-type asteroid, the most numerous type in the inner asteroid belt. On 28...
.
Some of the larger Koronis-family asteroids
| Name | Median diameter Diameter In geometry, a diameter of a circle is any straight line segment that passes through the center of the circle and whose endpoints are on the circle. The diameters are the longest chords of the circle... |
Semi-major axis Semi-major axis The major axis of an ellipse is its longest diameter, a line that runs through the centre and both foci, its ends being at the widest points of the shape... |
Orbital inclination Inclination Inclination in general is the angle between a reference plane and another plane or axis of direction.-Orbits:The inclination is one of the six orbital parameters describing the shape and orientation of a celestial orbit... |
Orbital eccentricity Orbital eccentricity The orbital eccentricity of an astronomical body is the amount by which its orbit deviates from a perfect circle, where 0 is perfectly circular, and 1.0 is a parabola, and no longer a closed orbit... |
Discovered | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 158 | Koronis 158 Koronis 158 Koronis is a main-belt, S-type asteroid.It was discovered by Viktor Knorre on January 4, 1876, from the Berlin observatory. It was the first of his four asteroid discoveries.... |
35.4 km | 2.867 AU | 1.00° | 0.057 | 1876 |
| 167 | Urda 167 Urda 167 Urda is a main-belt, S-type asteroid.It is a member of the Koronis asteroid family.It was discovered by C. H. F. Peters on August 28, 1876 in Clinton, New York and named after Urd, one of the Norns in Norse mythology.... |
39.9 km | 2.855 AU | 2.21° | 0.035 | 1876 |
| 208 | Lacrimosa 208 Lacrimosa 208 Lacrimosa is a main-belt asteroid. It is classified as an S-type asteroid.It is also one of the largest members of the Koronis asteroid family and probably a piece of the original asteroid which was shattered in an ancient impact that created the family.... |
41.0 km | 2.895 AU | 1.751° | 0.015 | 1879 |
| 243 | Ida 243 Ida 243 Ida is an asteroid in the Koronis family of the asteroid belt. It was discovered on 29 September 1884 by Johann Palisa and named after a nymph from Greek mythology. Later telescopic observations categorized Ida as an S-type asteroid, the most numerous type in the inner asteroid belt. On 28... |
31.3 km | 2.861 AU | 1.138° | 0.046 | 1884 |
| 263 | Dresda 263 Dresda 263 Dresda is a typical Main belt asteroid. It belongs to the Koronis family of asteroids.It has a lightly coloured surface and likely is not composed of carbonaceus materials, but is similar in composition as another Koronis family member, 243 Ida.... |
23.0 km | 2.886 AU | 1.314° | 0.079 | 1886 |
| 227 | Elvira 277 Elvira 277 Elvira is a typical main belt asteroid and a member of the Koronis asteroid family.It was discovered by Auguste Charlois on May 3, 1888 in Nice... |
27.0 km | 2.887 AU | 1.156° | 0.089 | 1888 |
| 311 | Claudia 311 Claudia 311 Claudia is a typical Main belt asteroid.It was discovered by Auguste Charlois on June 11, 1891 in Nice. The origin of the name of this asteroid remains unknown, as do many other of his discoveries.... |
24.0 km | 2.897 AU | 3.225° | 0.008 | 1891 |
| 321 | Florentina 321 Florentina 321 Florentina is a typical Main belt asteroid.It was discovered by Johann Palisa October 15, 1891 in Vienna. He named the asteroid for his daughter, Florentina... |
27.0 km | 2.886 AU | 2.594° | 0.043 | 1891 |
| 534 | Nassovia 534 Nassovia 534 Nassovia is a minor planet orbiting the Sun. It is a member of the Koronis family of asteroids.... |
? | 2.884 AU | 3.277° | 0.057 | 1904 |
| 720 | Bohlinia 720 Bohlinia 720 Bohlinia is a minor planet orbiting the Sun.720 Bohlinia was discovered by Franz Kaiser, a German astronomer in 1911. It is named for Karl Petrus Theodor Bohlin, Swedish astronomer to mark his 65th birthday.... |
? | 2.888 AU | 2.359° | 0.014 | 1911 |
| 1223 | Neckar 1223 Neckar 1223 Neckar is an asteroid in the Main belt and a member of the Koronis Family of asteroids.It was discovered by K. Reinmuth on Oct.6,1931.-Orbital Elements:eccentricity: 0.0602782semi-major axis: 2.8690752 AUperihelion: 2.6961325 AU... |
? | 2.8690752 AU | 2.55052º | 0.0605204 | 1931 |
| 9908 | Aue 9908 Aue 9908 Aue is a main belt asteroid. It orbits the Sun once every 4.94 years. It has been identified as a member of the Koronis family of asteroids.... |
? | 2.900 AU | 2.68° | 0.0355 | 1971 |