Identifying the population of stable $ν_6$ resonant asteroids using large databases

Abstract

Large observational surveys, like those that will be conducted at the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, are expected to discover up to one million new asteroids in the first year of operation. This will more than double the database of known asteroids. New methods and techniques will be needed to handle the large influx of data. Here, we tested some of these new methods by studying the population of asteroids on stable orbits inside the $ν_6$ secular resonance. This resonance is one of the strongest mechanisms for destabilizing the orbits of main-belt bodies and producing Near-Earth Asteroids (NEAs). Yet, stable orbital configurations where the asteroid pericenter is either aligned or anti-aligned with that of Saturn exist inside the resonance. The population of stable $ν_6$ resonators is now the largest population of asteroids in stable orbits inside a secular resonance. Here we obtained the largest sample of asteroids' proper elements ever used for this problem. Clustering methods and the use of machine learning algorithms permitted the identification of the known asteroid families crossed by the $ν_6$ resonance and of two entirely new groups: the Tiffanykapler and the 138605 QW177 families. The Tiffanykapler family is the first young asteroid family ever found in a linear secular resonance, with an age of $3.0\pm1.2$ Myr and an ejection velocity field parameter of $V_{EJ} = 15^{+6}_{-3}$ m/s. We identify a population of high-eccentricity objects around the Tina family that may be the first example of an asteroid family "resonant halo".