Q-type asteroid
Type of asteroid
Q-type asteroids are relatively common inner-belt asteroids with a strong, broad 1 micrometre olivine and pyroxene 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.
A survey of 1,040 Near Earth and inner-belt asteroids found that about 10% of all NEAs belong to this type, making it the third most common among NEAs (behind S-type and Sq-type, but slightly more common than C-type). Q-type asteroids are spectrally more similar to ordinary chondrite meteorites (types H, L, LL).
Examples of Q-type asteroids are: 1862 Apollo, 2102 Tantalus, 3753 Cruithne, 6489 Golevka, and 9969 Braille.
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Q-type asteroid”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- 9969 Braille HQ.png by NASA / JPL / Ted Stryk, CC BY 3.0
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