Aspects of this topic are discussed in the following places at Britannica.
Within the main belt are groups of asteroids that cluster with respect to certain mean orbital elements (semimajor axis, eccentricity, and inclination). Such groups are called families and are named for the lowest numbered asteroid in the family. Asteroid families are formed when an asteroid is disrupted in a catastrophic collision, the members of the family thus being pieces of the original...
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