Flora Family
The Flora or Florian family of asteroids is a large grouping of S-type asteroids in the inner main belt, whose origin and properties are relatively poorly understood at present. Roughly 4-5% of all main belt asteroids belong to this family.
Because of its poorly defined boundaries, and the location of Flora itself near the edge, this asteroid group has also sometimes been called the Ariadne(an) family, when Flora did not make it into the group during an analysis (e.g. the WAM analysis by Zappala 1995).
The Flora family of asteroids may be the source of the Chicxlub (Cretaceous–Paleogene) impactor, the likely culprit in the extinction of the dinosaurs.
Read more about Flora Family: Characteristics, Location and Size, Interlopers
Famous quotes containing the words flora and/or family:
“A man’s interest in a single bluebird is worth more than a complete but dry list of the fauna and flora of a town.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The politics of the family are the politics of a nation. Just as the authoritarian family is the authoritarian state in microcosm, the democratic family is the best training ground for life in a democracy.”
—Letty Cottin Pogrebin (20th century)