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Asteroid groups and families

  • Vesta familyThe Vesta family is a cluster of asteroids located in the inner asteroid belt. This group orbits near its namesake, 4 Vesta, which serves as the principal…
  • Pallas familyKiyotsugu Hirayama stood before the stars in 1928 and drew a line through the chaos of the asteroid belt. He grouped thousands of rocks into families based…
  • Asteroid beltIn 1596, Johannes Kepler wrote in his book Mysterium Cosmographicum that he placed a planet between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.
  • Asteroid familyAsteroid families appear as distinct clusters when astronomers plot their proper orbital elements. These elements include semi-major axis, eccentricity, and…