# Scattering V-type asteroids during the giant planets instability: A step for Jupiter, a leap for basalt

## TL;DR

This study proposes a dynamical mechanism during the giant planets' instability phase that explains how V-type asteroids could have been scattered from Vesta to the middle and outer asteroid belt, accounting for observed distributions.

## Contribution

It introduces a new model showing how giant planet migration can transport V-type asteroids beyond Vesta's original location, filling a gap in understanding asteroid distribution.

## Key findings

- Perturbations from the scattered ice giant can move V-type asteroids outward.
- The mechanism is effective for paleo-families from 100-500 km craters on Vesta.
- It explains the distribution of V-type asteroids in the middle and outer belt.

## Abstract

V-type asteroids are a taxonomic class whose surface is associated to a basaltic composition. The only known source of V-type asteroids in the Main Asteroid Belt is (4) Vesta, that is located in the inner part of the belt. However, many V-type asteroids cannot be dynamically linked to Vesta., in particular, those asteroids located in the middle and outer parts of the Belt. Previous works have failed to find mechanisms to transport V-type asteroids from the inner to the middle and outer belt. In this work we propose a dynamical mechanism that could have acted on primordial asteroid families. We consider a model of the giant planets migration known as the jumping Jupiter model with five planets. Our study is focused on the period of 10 Myr that encompasses the instability phase of the giant planets. We show that, for different hypothetical Vesta-like paleo-families in the inner belt, the perturbations caused by the ice giant that is scattered into the asteroid belt before being ejected from the solar system, are able to scatter V-type asteroids to the middle and outer belt. Based on the orbital distribution of V-type candidates identified from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and the VISTA Survey colours, we show that this mechanism is efficient enough provided that the hypothetical paleo-family originated from a 100 to 500 km crater excavated on the surface of (4) Vesta. This mechanism is able to explain the currently observed V-type asteroids in the middle and outer belt, with the exception of (1459) Magnya.