K-type asteroids are relatively uncommon
asteroid
An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere.
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s with a moderately reddish spectrum shortwards of 0.75 μm, and a slight bluish trend longwards of this. They have a low
albedo. Their spectrum resembles that of
CV and CO meteorite
A meteorite is a solid piece of debris from an object, such as a comet, asteroid, or meteoroid, that originates in outer space and survives its passage through the atmosphere to reach the surface of a planet or Natural satellite, moon. When the ...
s. A larger K type is
9 Metis.
These asteroids were described as "featureless"
S-types in the
Tholen classification. The K-type was proposed by J. F. Bell and colleagues in 1988 for bodies having a particularly shallow 1 μm absorption feature, and lacking the 2 μm absorption. These were found during studies of the
Eos family The Eos family (''adj. Eoan'' ; ) is a very large asteroid family located in the outer region of the asteroid belt. The family of K-type asteroids is believed to have formed as a result of an ancient catastrophic collision. The family's parent body ...
of asteroids.
See also
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Asteroid spectral types
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L-type asteroid
L-type asteroids are relatively uncommon asteroids with a strongly reddish spectrum shortwards of 0.75 μm, and a featureless flat spectrum longwards of this. In comparison with the K-type asteroid, K-type, they exhibit a more reddish spectrum at ...
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S-type asteroid
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X-type asteroid
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181 Eucharis
Eucharis ( minor planet designation: 181 Eucharis) is a large, slowly rotating main-belt asteroid that was discovered by French astronomer Pablo Cottenot on February 2, 1878, from Marseille Observatory. It was his only asteroid discovery. This o ...
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221 Eos
Eos ( minor planet designation: 221 Eos) is a large main-belt asteroid that was discovered by Austrian astronomer Johann Palisa on January 18, 1882, in Vienna. In 1884, it was named after Eos, the Greek goddess of the dawn, to honour the openin ...
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402 Chloë
402 Chloë (Minor planet provisional designation, ''prov. designation'': ''or'' ) is a large Asteroid belt, main-belt asteroid. It was discovered by French astronomer Auguste Charlois on 21 March 1895 from Nice. This asteroid is orbiting the Sun ...
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417 Suevia
Suevia (minor planet designation: 417 Suevia) is a typical Main belt asteroid. It is classified as a K-type/S-type asteroid.
It was discovered by Max Wolf on 6 May 1896 in Heidelberg
Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ' ...
References
J. F. Bell ''A probable asteroidal parent body for the CV and CO chondrites'' Meteoritics, Vol. 23, pp. 256 (1988).
J. F. Bell et al. ''The 52-color asteroid survey: Final results and interpretation'' Lunar and Planetary Science, Vol. 19, pp. 57 (1988).
Asteroid spectral classes
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