Solar System Objects Observed in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Commissioning Data

Citations Over TimeTop 10% of 2001 papers

Abstract

We discuss measurements of the properties of about 10,000 asteroids detected in 500 deg2 of sky in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) commissioning data. The moving objects are detected in the magnitude range 14 1 km in the asteroid belt, or about four times less than previous estimates. The distribution of main belt asteroids in the 4-dimensional SDSS color space is bimodal, and the two groups can be associated with S (rocky) and C (carbonaceous) asteroids. A strong bimodality is also seen in the heliocentric distribution of asteroids and suggests the existence of two distinct belts: the inner rocky belt, about 1 AU wide (FWHM) and centered at R~2.8 AU, and the outer carbonaceous belt, about 0.5 AU wide and centered at R~3.2 AU. The colors of Hungarias, Mars crossers, and near-Earth objects are more similar to the C-type than to S-type asteroids, suggesting that they originate in the outer belt. (abridged).

Related Papers

• → Dynamical erosion of the asteroid belt and implications for large impacts in the inner Solar System(2009)163 cited
• → The Statistical Asteroid Model. I. The Main-Belt Population for Diameters Greater than 1 Kilometer(2005)74 cited
• → Dynamical constraints on the evolution of the inner asteroid belt and the sources of meteorites(2019)2 cited
• Volatiles in the outer solar system(1991)
• → Dynamical evolution of the inner asteroid belt(2020)