A-type asteroids are relatively uncommon inner-belt asteroids that have a strong, broad 1 μm olivine feature and a very reddish spectrum shortwards of 0.7 μm. They are thought to come from the completely differentiated mantle of an asteroid, and appear to have a high density. One survey found that 7 similar A-, V- and X-type asteroids had an average density of .

List

A-type asteroids are so rare that as of August 2024, only 17 had been discovered:

{| class="wikitable"

! Designation !! Class !! Diam. || Refs

|-

| 246 Asporina || || ||

|-

| 289 Nenetta || || ||

|-

| 446 Aeternitas || || ||

|-

| 863 Benkoela || || ||

|-

| 1126 Otero || || ||

|-

| 1600 Vyssotsky || || ||

|-

| 1951 Lick || || ||

|-

| 2234 Schmadel || || ||

|-

| 2423 Ibarruri || || ||

|-

| 2501 Lohja || || ||

|-

| 2715 Mielikki || || ||

|-

| 2732 Witt || || ||

|-

| 3352 McAuliffe || || ||

|-

| 4142 Dersu-Uzala || || ||

|-

| 4713 Steel || || ||

|-

| 4982 Bartini || || ||

|-

| 5641 McCleese || || ||

|-

! colspan=4 style="font-weight: normal; padding: 8px; font-size: smaller;" | Diameter: averaged estimates only; may change over time

|}

See also

  • Asteroid spectral types

References

  • Mineralogic and Temperature-Induced Spectral Investigations of A-type Asteroids: (246) Asporina and (446) Aeternitas, V. Reddy, Lunar and Planetary Science XXXVI (2005)