Hungaria asteroids
Innermost dense asteroid concentration, dominated by high-inclination E-types.
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The Hungaria asteroids are a dynamical group of asteroids in the asteroid belt, orbiting the Sun with semi-major axes between 1.78 and 2.00 astronomical units (AU). They are the innermost dense concentration of asteroids in the Solar System, named after their largest member, 434 Hungaria. The group includes the Hungaria family, a collisional asteroid family that dominates its population.
Quick Facts
- Semi major axis range
- 1.78 to 2.00 AU
- Orbital period
- approximately 2.5 years
- Eccentricity
- below 0.18
- Inclination range
- 16° to 34°
- Mean motion resonances
- 9:2 with Jupiter, 2:3 with Mars
- Largest member
- 434 Hungaria (about 11 km (6.84 mi) in size)
- Typical albedo
- above 0.30
Facts from the source article.
Background
The Hungaria asteroids occupy a region interior to the 4:1 Kirkwood gap at 2.06 AU, which marks their outer boundary. Their inner boundary is determined by interactions with Mars.
Unlike the core of the asteroid belt, where Jupiter's influence predominates, the Hungaria region is strongly shaped by Mars's gravitational perturbations. Over the Solar System's history, Mars has cleared out all low-inclination orbits inside the 4:1 gap, leaving only high-inclination asteroids (16° to 34°) with low eccentricities. Even today, some Hungaria asteroids cross Mars's orbit and are being gradually ejected due to Mars's influence.
Most Hungaria asteroids are E-type, with bright enstatite surfaces and albedos typically above 0.30. Despite their high albedos, none are visible with binoculars because they are too small; the largest, 434 Hungaria, is only about 11 km across. They are, however, the smallest asteroids that can regularly be glimpsed with amateur telescopes. Long-term changes in Mars's orbit are believed to be critical in the current removal of Hungaria asteroids, ultimately leading over millions of years to the formation of short-lived Amor asteroids and Earth-crossers.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Hungaria asteroids (CC BY-SA 4.0).
- Word definitions: the , each quoted from its Wikipedia article.
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