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.[1][2]: 23 It is also known as the Roma family, named after its alternative parent body, 472 Roma.[3]
The family consists of 2940 known members based on the HCM method. Its largest members are the asteroids 170 Maria and 472 Roma.[2]: 23 A complete synthetic HCM-listing for all members can be obtained by using the Ferret Interactive Search.[5]
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.[1]
^Masiero, Joseph R.; Mainzer, A. K.; Bauer, J. M.; Grav, T.; Nugent, C. R.; Stevenson, R. (June 2013). "Asteroid Family Identification Using the Hierarchical Clustering Method and WISE/NEOWISE Physical Properties". The Astrophysical Journal. 770 (1): 22. arXiv:1305.1607. Bibcode:2013ApJ...770....7M. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/770/1/7.