Differentiation signatures in the Flora region

TL;DR

This paper investigates the physical diversity and potential origins of asteroid types in the Flora region, exploring whether some V- and A-type asteroids are unrelated to Vesta despite their proximity.

Contribution

It provides an analysis of the differentiation signatures in the Flora asteroid family and examines the possibility of independent origins of certain asteroid types.

Findings

Some V- and A-type asteroids in Flora may not be linked to Vesta.

The Flora region shows significant compositional diversity.

Migration pathways between Flora and Vesta are considered plausible.

Abstract

Most asteroid families are very homogeneous in physical properties. Some show greater diversity, however. The Flora family is the most intriguing of them. The Flora family is spread widely in the inner main belt, has a rich collisional history, and is one of the most taxonomically diverse regions in the main belt. As a result of its proximity to the asteroid (4) Vesta (the only currently known intact differentiated asteroid) and its family, migration between the two regions is possible. This dynamical path is one of the counter arguments to the hypothesis that there may be traces of a differentiated parent body other than Vesta in the inner main belt region. We here investigate the possibility that some of the V- and A- types (commonly interpreted as basaltoids and dunites - parts of the mantle and crust of differentiated parent bodies) in the Flora dynamical region are not dynamically connected to Vesta.