On the Ages of Resonant, Eroded and Fossil Asteroid Families

TL;DR

This study estimates the ages of 57 asteroid families, including complex and resonant cases, using a uniform method, revealing insights into their collisional history and evolution, and classifying them as fossil or eroded families.

Contribution

It provides the first comprehensive, uniform age estimates for 57 asteroid families, including those in resonances and with complex histories, using a new calibration method.

Findings

Ages of 57 asteroid families were estimated, including 9 previously unresolved.

Resonant and Trojan families are likely fossil, with minimal Yarkovsky evolution.

A new family, (11097) 1994 UD1, was identified among Griquas.

Abstract

In this work we have estimated 10 collisional ages of 9 families for which for different reasons our previous attempts failed. In general, these are difficult cases that required dedicated effort, such as a new family classifications for asteroids in mean motion resonances, as well as a revision of the classification inside the $3/2$ resonance. Of the families locked in mean motion resonances, we succeeded in determining ages of the families of (1911) Schubart and of the "super-Hilda" family, assuming this is actually a severely eroded original family of (153) Hilda. In the Trojan region we found families with almost no Yarkovsky evolution, for which we could compute only physically implausible ages. Hence, we interpreted their modest dispersions of proper eccentricities and inclinations as implying that the Trojan asteroid families are fossil families, frozen at their proper elements determined by the original ejection velocity field. We have found a new family, among the Griquas locked in the 2/1 resonance with Jupiter: (11097) 1994 UD1. We have estimated the ages of 6 families affected by secular resonances: families of (5) Astraea, (25) Phocaea, (283) Emma, (363) Padua, (686) Gersuind, and (945) Barcelona. By using a numerical calibration method, we have shown that the secular resonances do not affect significanly the secular change of proper a. For the family of (145) Adeona we could estimate the age only after removal of a number of assumed interlopers. With the present paper we have concluded the series dedicated to the determination of asteroid ages with a uniform method. We computed the ages for a total of 57 families with $>100$ members. There remain families too small at present to provide reliable estimates, as well as some complex families (221, 135, 298) which may have more ages than we could currently estimate.