Data Set Information
DATA_SET_NAME ASTEROID TAXONOMY V3.0
DATA_SET_ID EAR-A-5-DDR-TAXONOMY-V3.0
NSSDC_DATA_SET_ID
DATA_SET_TERSE_DESCRIPTION
DATA_SET_DESCRIPTION Data Set Overview : This dataset provides taxonomic classifications of asteroids in each of five different systems: Tholen (1984, 1989) [THOLEN1984, THOLEN1989]; Barucci, et al. (1987) [BARUCCIETAL1987]; Tedesco, et al. (1989) [TEDESCOETAL1989]; Howell, et al. (1994) [HOWELLETAL1994], and Xu et al. (1995) [XUETAL1995]. Asteroid taxonomy is the grouping of asteroids into a small number of classes whose members have similar spectral reflectance properties. The classification efforts prior to 1990 used only the reflectivities between 0.3 and 1.1 microns and visual geometric albedos for this purpose (see Zellner et al. 1985 [ZELLNERETAL1985] and Tedesco 1989 [TEDESCO1989]); more recently, infrared data extending to 2.5 microns were used for a new classification scheme (Howell et al. 1994 [HOWELLETAL1994]). Taxonomic classifications have also been made on the basis of spectra, as in the Small Main-belt Asteroid Spectroscopic Survey (SMASS) of Xu et al. (1995) [XUETAL1995]. In this particular data set, the four parameter fields indicate which parameters were used to arrive at the classification for the corresponding asteroid in each of the first four taxonomies. (The SMASS taxonomic classifications are all based on the SMASS spectra.) A number indicates the number of color indices used, the letter 'G' indicates that a groundbased radiometric albedo was also used, and the letter 'I' indicates that an IRAS radiometric albedo was used. The letter 'S' indicates that the classification is based on a medium resolution spectrum published by Chapman and Gaffey (1979) [CHAPMAN&GAFFEY1979A]. The Tholen (1984) [THOLEN1984] taxonomy used Eight-Color Asteroid Survey color indices (Zellner et al. 1985 [ZELLNERETAL1985]), ground-based visual geometric albedos where available, and a minimal tree clustering algorithm. The Tholen (1989) [THOLEN1989] extension incorporated UBV color indices and some medium resolution spectrophotometry. The Barucci et al. (1987) [BARUCCIETAL1987] taxonomy also used Eight-Color data, but only those for which a complete set of seven color indices were available, IRAS visual geometric albedos, and a G-mode cluster analysis method. The Tedesco et al. (1989) [TEDESCOETAL1989] taxonomy used only the u-v and v-x color indices from the Eight-Color Asteroid Survey, mostly IRAS visual geometric albedos (but a few ground-based albedos for particularly interesting cases), and a stereoscopic viewing method for identifying clusters. The Howell et al. (1994) [HOWELLETAL1994] taxonomy is based on a combination of Eight-Color and 52-color (Bell et al. 1988 [BELLETAL1988]) data, resampled at 65 points to provide more uniform wavelength sampling, and a neural network cluster identification method, though in eight cases, a visual geometric albedo was used to distinguish between two or more possible classifications. The data set contains entries for 1198 objects. Each of the five taxonomies represented in this data set produced classifications for a subset of these objects: Tholen (1984, 1989) 978 objects Barucci et al. (1987) 438 objects Tedesco et al. (1989) 357 objects Howell et al. (1994) 112 objects Xu et al. (1995) 221 objects Six objects not classified by Tholen have some spectral reflectance data available, but the data were deemed too noisy to produce a classification. Their '---' entries in the classification table serve simply to call attention to the fact that some spectral reflectance data do exist for these objects. Nine asteroids in the Eight-Color Asteroid Survey paper (Zellner et al. 1985 [ZELLNERETAL1985]) had not yet been numbered at the time of publication, but they are all numbered now and are identified by their number in this data set. They are cross- referenced by their publication designation here: 1979 VA (4015) Wilson-Harrington 1980 WF (4688) 1981 LA (3169) Ostro 1981 QA (3102) Krok 1981 QF2 (3123) Dunham 1981 VB (3124) Kansas 1982 DV (3288) Seleucus 1982 RA (3199) Nefertiti 1982 XB (3757) Modification History : The asteroid taxonomy data set was first reviewed and ingested in 1993, and was updated in 1997 to include the neural net taxonomy of Howell et al. (1994) [HOWELLETAL1994]. It was updated in 1999 to include the taxonomic classifications of the SMASS survey, Xu et al. (1995). Parameters : The data table includes taxonomic classifications and the parameters used to derived that classification in each of the Tholen, Barucci, Tedesco, and Howell systems.
DATA_SET_RELEASE_DATE 1999-04-09T00:00:00.000Z
START_TIME 1989-01-01T12:00:00.000Z
STOP_TIME 2008-05-10T12:00:00.000Z
MISSION_NAME SUPPORT ARCHIVES
MISSION_START_DATE 2004-03-22T12:00:00.000Z
MISSION_STOP_DATE N/A (ongoing)
TARGET_NAME ASTEROID
TARGET_TYPE ASTEROID
INSTRUMENT_HOST_ID PUBLIT
INSTRUMENT_NAME COMPILATION
INSTRUMENT_ID COMPIL
INSTRUMENT_TYPE UNKNOWN
NODE_NAME Small Bodies
ARCHIVE_STATUS SUPERSEDED
CONFIDENCE_LEVEL_NOTE Review : This data set underwent external peer review on April 9, 1999. Limitations : Four entries have a notation in the comment field. The classification for (152) Atala in the original reference is based on data that have been found to be inconsistent with other observations. The current belief is that this object may have been misidentified during the course of the Eight-Color Asteroid Survey, therefore the Tholen classification has been change to 'I' to reflect inconsistent data; the Howell et al. (1994) [HOWELLETAL1994] classification reflects the inconsistency. The classifications for (2151) Hadwiger and (2422) Perovskaya are based on UBV colors published by Bowell et al. (1979) [BOWELLETAL1979], where they are identified as 1975 EA and 1975 GB, respectively. These designations are not the principal provisional designations (which are actually 1977 VX and 1968 HK1, respectively), therefore the proper identity of these objects in the original Bowell et al. table will not be obvious unless a listing of asteroid identifications is consulted. The classification for 1975 RC is also based on UBV colors published by Bowell et al. (1979) [BOWELLETAL1979], where it is identified as 1975 U2, which is not a proper provisional designation. Efforts to determine the correct identity of this object revealed that 1975 U2 appears to be a designation assigned by C.-I. Lagerkvist for his own personal use (prior to his learning of the formal provisional designation), but it was apparently also communicated to E. F. Tedesco, the observer of the colors. There was sufficient confusion generated by the investigation, however, that potential users of this classification should be warned that the identification of 1975 U2 as 1975 RC may be incorrect.
CITATION_DESCRIPTION Citation TBD
ABSTRACT_TEXT This dataset provides taxonomic classifications of asteroids in each of five different systems: Tholen (1984, 1989) [THOLEN1984, THOLEN1989] et al. (1989) [TEDESCOETAL1989] [HOWELLETAL1994], and Xu et al. (1995) [XUETAL1995].
PRODUCER_FULL_NAME CAROL NEESE
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