A&A 617, A12 (2018) https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201833023 Astronomy & © ESO 2018 Astrophysics Taxonomic classification of asteroids based on MOVIS near-infrared colors? M. Popescu1,2,3, J. Licandro1,2, J. M. Carvano4, R. Stoicescu3, J. de León1,2, D. Morate1,2, I. L. Boaca˘3, and C. P. Cristescu5 1 Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), C/Vía Láctea s/n, 38205 La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain 2 Departamento de Astrofísica, Universidad de La Laguna, 38206 La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain e-mail:
[email protected] 3 Astronomical Institute of the Romanian Academy, 5 Cu¸titulde Argint, 040557 Bucharest, Romania 4 Observatório Nacional, rua Gal. José Cristino 77, São Cristóvão, 20921-400 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 5 Department of Physics, University Politehnica of Bucharest, Bucure¸sti 060042, Romania Received 14 March 2018 / Accepted 14 June 2018 ABSTRACT Context. The MOVIS catalog contains the largest set of near-infrared (NIR) colors for solar system objects. These data were obtained from the observations performed by VISTA-VHS survey using the Y, J, H, and Ks filters. The taxonomic classification of objects in this catalog allows us to obtain large-scale distributions for the asteroidal population, to study faint objects, and to select targets for detailed spectral investigations. Aims. We aim to provide a taxonomic classification for asteroids observed by VISTA-VHS survey. We derive a method for assigning a compositional type to an object based on its (Y − J), (J − Ks), and (H − Ks) colors. Methods. We present a taxonomic classification for 18 265 asteroids from the MOVIS catalog, using a probabilistic method and the k-nearest neighbors algorithm.