A-type asteroid

A-type asteroids are relatively uncommon inner-belt asteroids that have a strong, broad 1 μm olivine feature and a very reddish spectrum shortwards of 0.7 μm. They are thought to come from the completely differentiated mantle of an asteroid, and appear to have a high density. One survey found that 7 similar A-, V- and X-type asteroids had an average density of 3.6 g/cm³.^[1]

List

A-type asteroids are so rare that as of August 2024, only 17 had been discovered:^[2]

Designation	Class	Diam.	Refs
246 Asporina	main-belt	50.891 km	MPC · JPL
289 Nenetta	main-belt	37.586 km	MPC · JPL
446 Aeternitas	main-belt	53.562 km	MPC · JPL
863 Benkoela	main-belt	38.724 km	MPC · JPL
1126 Otero	main-belt	10.974 km	MPC · JPL
1600 Vyssotsky	main-belt	7.413 km	MPC · JPL
1951 Lick	Mars-crossing	5.57 km	MPC · JPL
2234 Schmadel	main-belt	9.473 km	MPC · JPL
2423 Ibarruri	Mars-crossing	4.899 km	MPC · JPL
2501 Lohja	main-belt	10.218 km	MPC · JPL
2715 Mielikki	main-belt	13.252 km	MPC · JPL
2732 Witt	main-belt	11.001 km	MPC · JPL
3352 McAuliffe	Amor	2.1 km	MPC · JPL
4142 Dersu-Uzala	Mars-crossing	7.1 km	MPC · JPL
4713 Steel	main-belt	6.286 km	MPC · JPL
4982 Bartini	main-belt	7.975 km	MPC · JPL
5641 McCleese	Mars-crossing	5.68 km	MPC · JPL
Diameter: averaged estimates only; may change over time

See also

• Asteroid spectral types

References

1. P. Vernazza et al. (2021) VLT/SPHERE imaging survey of the largest main-belt asteroids: Final results and synthesis. Astronomy & Astrophysics 54, A56
2. "JPL Small-Body Database Search Engine: spec. type = A (SMASSII)". JPL Solar System Dynamics. Retrieved 2024-08-15.

External links

• Mineralogic and Temperature-Induced Spectral Investigations of A-type Asteroids: (246) Asporina and (446) Aeternitas, V. Reddy, Lunar and Planetary Science XXXVI (2005)