Families among high-inclination asteroids

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new classification of high-inclination asteroid families using synthetic proper elements, hierarchical clustering, and color data, revealing 38 families and numerous other clusters for further study.

Contribution

It presents a novel, more reliable classification method for high-inclination asteroid families incorporating color data and refined clustering techniques.

Findings

Identified 38 asteroid families among high-inclination objects.

Discovered numerous additional clusters and potential interlopers.

Enhanced classification robustness compared to previous methods.

Abstract

We present a new classification of families identified among the population of high-inclination asteroids. We computed synthetic proper elements for a sample of 18,560 numbered and multi-opposition objects having sine of proper inclination greater than 0.295. We considered three zones at different heliocentric distances (inner, intermediate and outer region) and used the standard approach based on the Hierarchical Clustering Method (HCM) to identify families in each zone. In doing so, we used slightly different approach with respect to previously published methodologies, to achieve a more reliable and robust classification. We also used available SDSS color data to improve membership and identify likely family interlopers. We found a total of 38 families, as well as a significant number of clumps and clusters deserving further investigation.