science

Themis family

Themis 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 Themis family rather than just read about it. In short: The Themis family (adj. Themistian; FIN: 602) is a family of carbonaceous asteroids located in the outer portion of the asteroid belt, at a mean distance of 3.13 AU from the Sun.

Key takeaways

Themis 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 Themis family to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Themis family from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Themis family (adj. Themistian; FIN: 602) is a family of carbonaceous asteroids located in the outer portion of the asteroid belt, at a mean distance of 3.13 AU from the Sun. It is one of the largest families with over 4700 known members, and consists of a well-defined core of larger bodies surrounded by a region of smaller ones. The collisional Themis family is named after its parent body, the asteroid 24 Themis, discovered on 5 April 1853 by Italian astronomer Annibale de Gasparis.

Description The Themis family is one of the largest and longest-recognized dynamical families of asteroids, and is made up of C-type asteroids with a composition believed to be similar to that of carbonaceous chondrites. To date, the Themis family comprises approximately 535 known asteroids. Asteroids in the Themis family share the following orbital elements:

semimajor axes between 3.08 AU and 3.24 AU orbital eccentricities between 0.09 and 0.22 orbital inclinations of less than 3°

List

Some of the largest members of this family include:

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Themis family

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Themis 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 Themis 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 Themis 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 Themis family

In research: Themis 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 Themis 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: Themis family is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Asteroid groups and families, Themis asteroids, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Themis 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 “Themis family” →

Affiliate

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

How to study Themis family in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Themis 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 Themis family out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Themis family in simple terms?

The Themis family (adj. Themistian; FIN: 602) is a family of carbonaceous asteroids located in the outer portion of the asteroid belt, at a mean distance of 3.13 AU from the Sun.

Why does Themis 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 Themis 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 Themis family.