science

Maria family

Maria family is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Maria family rather than just read about it. In short: The Maria family (adj. Marian; FIN: 506; also known as the Roma family) is a collisional asteroid family located in the inner parts of the intermediate asteroid belt, near the 1:3 Kirkwood gap.

Key takeaways

Maria family belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Maria family to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Maria family from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Maria family (adj. Marian; FIN: 506; also known as the Roma family) is a collisional asteroid family located in the inner parts of the intermediate asteroid belt, near the 1:3 Kirkwood gap. The family consist of several thousand stony S-type asteroids. It is named after its parent body and lowest numbered member, the asteroid 170 Maria. It is also known as the Roma family, named after its alternative parent body, 472 Roma. The family was initially identified by Japanese astronomer Kiyotsugu Hirayama in 1918. Asteroids in this family typically have a semi-major axis between 2.52−2.62 AU, and an inclination of 12 to 17°.

Members The family consists of 2940 known members based on the HCM method. Its largest members are the asteroids 170 Maria and 472 Roma. A complete synthetic HCM-listing for all members can be obtained by using the Ferret Interactive Search.

Interlopers Although asteroid 695 Bella has orbital properties that make it a candidate for this family, the spectral properties of the object indicate it is most likely an interloper. Instead, it may have been spalled off from 6 Hebe, or its parent body.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Maria family

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Maria family claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Maria family before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Maria family ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Maria family

In research: Maria family appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Maria family in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Maria family is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Maria asteroids, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Maria family outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Maria family” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Maria family in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Maria family means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Maria family out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Maria family in simple terms?

The Maria family (adj. Marian; FIN: 506; also known as the Roma family) is a collisional asteroid family located in the inner parts of the intermediate asteroid belt, near the 1:3 Kirkwood gap.

Why does Maria family matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Maria family?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Maria family.