Asteroid families

Asteroid families are the remnants of catastrophic collisions between asteroids and, so, we should expect a sort of mineralogical coherence among its members. While the dynamics helps us defining the groupings in the space of proper elements, the analysis of the reflectance spectra is currently the main tool to assess the surface mineralogy of asteroids. This kind of information could provide us with information about asteroid interiors, geological differentiation of asteriods, space weathering, and other physical processes that may modify the mineralogical properties of asteroids along their life. In this talk, I will present the recent results from MothéDiniz et al. (2005, Icarus, 174, 54) on the spectral properties of families based on enlarged databases of proper elements and reflectance spectra.