In this paper we apply different methods to examine the possibility that a small group of 24 asteroids dynamically linked to main-belt comet P/2006 VW _ { 139 } , recently discovered by the Pan-STARRS1 survey telescope , shares a common physical origin .
By applying the Hierarchical Clustering and Backward Integration methods , we find strong evidence that 11 of these asteroids form a sub-group which likely originated in a recent collision event , and that this group includes P/2006 VW _ { 139 } .
The objects not found to be part of the 11-member sub-group , which we designate as the P/2006 VW _ { 139 } family , were either found to be dynamically unstable , or these are likely interlopers which should be expected due to the close proximity of the Themis family .
As we demonstrated , statistical significance of P/2006 VW _ { 139 } family is > 99 \% .
We determine the age of the family to be 7.5 \pm 0.3 Myr , and estimate the diameter of the parent body to be \sim 11 km .
Results show that the family is produced by an impact which can be best characterized as a transition from catastrophic to cratering regime .
The dynamical environment of this family is studied as well , including the identification of the most influential mean motion and secular resonances in the region .
Our findings make P/2006 VW _ { 139 } now the second main-belt comet to be dynamically associated with a young asteroid family , a fact with important implications for the origin and activation mechanism of such objects .