The Euphrosyne family of dark asteroids in the outer asteroid belt is among members of the near-earth object population. Now, a new study has traced them to their likely source. Scientists have unveiled a unique family of space rocks high above the plane of our solar system. It’s a region near the asteroid-rich abyss between Mars and Jupiter.

The study researchers call these interplanetary oddballs the Euphrosyne asteroids. Until now, they have been distant, dark and mysterious. Orbital path being followed by the Euphrosynes is unusual. They are distributed at the outer edge of the asteroid belt and their orbital path juts well above the ecliptic, the equator of the solar system.

The name of the asteroid was inspired from an ancient Greek goddess of mirth Euphrosyne. It is about 156 miles across, and its size makes it one of the 10 largest asteroids in the main belt. A massive collision took place about 700 million years ago, and what remained is the current-day Euphrosyne. The collision formed the family of smaller asteroids bearing its name.

In the new study, the researchers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, put into use the agency's orbiting Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (NEOWISE) telescope to get a good look of these unusual asteroids. This helped them gain insight into near-earth objects (NEOs) and their potential threat to earth.

“The Euphrosynes have a gentle resonance with the orbit of Saturn that slowly moves these objects, eventually turning some of them into NEOs. This particular gravitational resonance tends to push some of the larger fragments of the Euphrosyne family into near-Earth space”, said Joseph Masiero, JPL's lead scientist on the Euphrosynes study.