Q-type asteroids are relatively uncommon
inner-belt 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.
...
s with a strong, broad 1
micrometre olivine and
pyroxene
The pyroxenes (commonly abbreviated to ''Px'') are a group of important rock-forming inosilicate minerals found in many igneous and metamorphic rocks. Pyroxenes have the general formula , where X represents calcium (Ca), sodium (Na), iron (Fe II) ...
feature, and a spectral slope that indicates the presence of metal. There are absorption features shortwards and longwards of 0.7 μm, and the spectrum is generally intermediate between the
V and
S-type.
Q-type asteroids are spectrally more similar to
ordinary chondrite meteorites (types
H,
L,
LL) than any other asteroid type. This has led scientists to speculate that they are abundant, but only about 20 of this type has been characterized.
Examples of Q-type asteroids are:
1862 Apollo
1862 Apollo is a stony asteroid, approximately 1.5 kilometers in diameter, classified as a near-Earth object (NEO). It was discovered by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth at Heidelberg Observatory on 24 April 1932, but lost and not recovered until ...
,
2102 Tantalus
2102 Tantalus (1975 YA) is an Apollo asteroid discovered on December 27, 1975, by C. Kowal at Palomar Observatory. It is a Q-type asteroid.
2102 Tantalus is a potentially hazardous asteroid (PHA) because its minimum orbit intersection distance ...
,
3753 Cruithne
3753 Cruithne is a Q-type, Aten asteroid in orbit around the Sun in 1:1 orbital resonance with Earth, making it a co-orbital object. It is an asteroid that, relative to Earth, orbits the Sun in a bean-shaped orbit that effectively describes a ...
,
6489 Golevka, and
9969 Braille.
See also
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Asteroid spectral types
References
Asteroid spectral classes
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