Apollo asteroids 1566 Icarus and 2007 MK6: Icarus family members?
K. Ohtsuka, H. Arakida, T. Ito, T. Kasuga, J. Watanabe, D. Kinoshita,
T. Sekiguchi, D.J. Asher and S. Nakano
Astrophys. J., 668, L71-L74 (2007)
Abstract:
Although it is more complicated to search for near-Earth object (NEO)
families than main belt asteroid families, since differential orbital
evolution within a NEO family can cause current orbital elements to
drastically differ from each other, we have found that Apollo asteroids 1566
Icarus and the newly discovered 2007 MK6 are almost certainly related.
Specifically, their orbital evolutions show a similar profile, time shifted
by only ~1000 yr, based on our time-lag theory. The dynamical relationship
between Icarus and 2007 MK6 along with a possible dust band, the
Taurid-Perseid meteor swarm, implies the first detection of an asteroidal NEO
family, namely the ``Icarus asteroid family''.
Full Paper - PDF
Published version at Univ. Chicago Press