Hungaria family
Collisional family of bright E-type asteroids in the inner belt.
The Hungaria family is a group of asteroids that formed from a collision, containing at least 2,966 known members. It takes its name from its largest body, 434 Hungaria, which measures about 11 kilometers across. This family sits within a broader Hungaria dynamical group, located in the far inner asteroid belt, where orbits have semimajor axes between 1.78 and 2.00 AU. Every asteroid in the family is a bright E-type, with albedos ranging from roughly 0.35 to 0.6.
An asteroid family consists of physically related fragments, typically created when a larger asteroid is shattered by an impact, leaving the pieces on similar orbits. This differs from a dynamical group, whose members share orbital paths only because of gravitational interactions with planets, which herd asteroids into a specific orbital zone. The Hungaria family belongs to both categories: its members are part of the wider Hungaria dynamical group and are also fragments of 434 Hungaria. The family is considered catastrophic because its largest member, 434 Hungaria, accounts for only about one-fifth of the family’s total mass.
Estimates for the family’s age vary, with figures of 205 ± 45 million years, 275 million years, and 400 ± 100 million years having been proposed.
- Number of members
- at least 2,966
- Largest member
- 434 Hungaria (11 km across)
- Semimajor axis range
- 1.78 to 2.00 AU
- Spectral type
- E-type
- Albedo range
- 0.35–0.6
- Age estimates
- 205±45 million years, 275 million years, 400±100 million years
Lore & Background
The Hungaria family is a catastrophic asteroid family, meaning that its largest member, 434 Hungaria, makes up only a fifth of the family's mass. The family was created by a collision with an original larger asteroid, with the fragments continuing on similar orbits to the original. This distinguishes it from a dynamical group, whose members share orbits only because of gravitational interactions with planets. Members of the Hungaria family are both part of the wider Hungaria dynamical group and fragments of 434 Hungaria. The age of the family has been variously estimated at 205±45 million years, 275 million years, and 400±100 million years.
Reader's Guide
The Hungaria family is significant as a well-defined collisional family within the far inner asteroid belt, providing insight into the processes of catastrophic disruption and the formation of asteroid families. Its members are all bright E-type asteroids with high albedos, making them distinct from the darker C- and S-type asteroids common elsewhere in the belt. The family's location, with semimajor axes between 1.78 and 2.00 AU, places it in a region dynamically shaped by gravitational interactions with Mars and Jupiter. The fact that 434 Hungaria, the largest remnant, comprises only about a fifth of the family's total mass indicates a highly energetic collision that shattered the original parent body. The multiple age estimates—ranging from roughly 160 million to 500 million years—reflect ongoing uncertainty in dating such events. As one of the larger known asteroid families, with at least 2,966 members, it serves as a key laboratory for studying the long-term evolution of collisional fragments and the orbital dynamics of the inner main belt.
Did You Know?
- The family is named after its largest member, the 11-kilometre-across asteroid 434 Hungaria.
- All members of the Hungaria family are bright E-type asteroids with albedos of 0.35–0.6.
More in Notable Asteroids, Part 4 1-24
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