Orbital Evolution of the Datura Asteroid Family

To research the Datura Family of asteroids, we used an orbital evolution code to track the orbital decay of asteroid fragments released in an asteroid disruption. Different particle sizes of 10, 100, 500, 750, and 100 micrometers were tracked including the semi-major axis, eccentricity, and inclination in order to observe how certain particle sizes’ orbital elements evolve. Using a young asteroid family like the Datura family gives more insight into the parent asteroid structure and formation because the time is closer to before the asteroid’s breakup. We use these models to constrain the parameters of the dust by comparing the conditions to infrared satellite data sets. The particles evolve by the radiative forces like the Poynting-Robertson drag or solar wind. This research is important to understand potential Earth hazards of fast moving bodies while near Earth and cislunar space.