Phocaea group

A cluster of asteroids in the main asteroid belt that were perturbed into high inclination (21 to 25°) orbits by the gravitational effect of the major planets, notably Jupiter, during the earliest period of solar system. The group is named after its first discovered member, (25) Phocaea, found in 1853 by the French astronomer Jean Chacornac (1823-1873), although its largest member is the C-class asteroid (105) Artemis, with a diameter of 126 km. Most of the Phocaea group is a ragbag assemblage of objects without a common ancestry; however, certain members, including (323) Brucia, (852) Wladilena, and (1568) Aisleen, may form a true Hirayama family.

Data for Phocaea
diameter	72 km
spectral class	S
semimajor axis	2.402 AU
perihelion	1.79 AU
aphelion	3.01 AU
inclination	21.6°
period	3.72 years

Related category

• ASTEROIDS AND OTHER MINOR PLANETS: TYPES AND GROUPS

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