Earth’s Trojan asteroid

Connors, Martin; Wiegert, Paul; Veillet, Christian

doi:10.1038/nature10233

Cited by 183 publications

(154 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Infrared measurements from NEOWISE have provided preliminary estimates of diameters and albedos . 2010 TK 7 is thought to be temporarily captured by Earth, with a dynamical stability timescale of ∼7000 years (Connors et al 2011;Marzari & Scholl 2013). By contrast, 2010 SO 16 librates across the L3 Earth-Sun Lagrange point in a horseshoe pattern that has the longest known stability of any Earth co-orbital, several hundred thousand years (Christou & Asher 2011).…”

Section: Earth Co-orbitalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Among the near-Earth objects discovered by NEOWISE during its post-cryogenic mission is the first known Earth Trojan, 2010 TK 7 and an object in a so-called "horseshoe" orbit co-orbital with Earth, 2010 SO 16 (Connors et al 2011;Christou & Asher 2011;Mainzer et al 2012a). 2010 TK 7 was discovered by NEOWISE because its ∼395-year libration period caused it to move to the region near 90…”

Section: Earth Co-orbitalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Space-Based Thermal Infrared Studies of Asteroids

Mainzer¹,

Usui²,

Trilling³

2015

Asteroids IV

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Large-area surveys operating at mid-infrared wavelengths have proven to be a valuable means of discovering and characterizing minor planets. Through the use of radiometric models, it is possible to derive physical properties such as diameters, albedos, and thermal inertia for large numbers of objects. Modern detector array technology has resulted in a significant improvement in spatial resolution and sensitivity compared with previous generations of spacebased infrared telescopes, giving rise to a commensurate increase in the number of objects that have been observed at these wavelengths. Space-based infrared surveys of asteroids therefore offer an effective method of rapidly gathering information about small body populations orbital and physical properties. The AKARI, WISE/NEOWISE, Spitzer, and Herschel missions have significantly increased the number of minor planets with well-determined diameters and albedos.

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Section: Earth Co-orbitalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Earth Co-orbitalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Space-Based Thermal Infrared Studies of Asteroids

Mainzer¹,

Usui²,

Trilling³

2015

Asteroids IV

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“…Any primordial Saturn and Uranus Trojans would have been subsequently lost through planetary perturbations (Nesvorný and Dones, 2002;Dvorak et al, 2010;Hou et al, 2014), with the known Uranus Trojans thought to be temporarily captured from among the Centaurs (Alexandersen et al, 2013;de la Fuente Marcos and de la Fuente Marcos, 2014). Some hypothetical Trojans of Earth would have been long-term stable, with the situation at Venus being less clear (Tabachnik and Evans, 2000;Cuk et al, 2012;Marzari and Scholl, 2013); however, so far only temporary coorbitals of these planets are known (Christou, 2000;Christou and Asher, 2011;Connors et al, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Yarkovsky-driven spreading of the Eureka family of Mars Trojans

Ćuk

Christou

Hamilton

2015

Icarus

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Out of nine known stable Mars Trojans, seven appear to be members of an orbital grouping including the largest Trojan, Eureka. In order to test if this could be a genetic family, we simulated the long term evolution of a tight orbital cluster centered on Eureka. We explored two cases: cluster dispersal through planetary gravity alone over 1 Gyr, and a 1 Gyr evolution due to both gravity and the Yarkovsky effect. We find that the dispersal of the cluster in eccentricity is primarily due to dynamical chaos, while the inclinations and libration amplitudes are primarily changed by the Yarkovsky effect. Current distribution of the cluster members orbits are indicative of an initially tight orbital grouping that was affected by a negative acceleration (i.e. one against the orbital motion) consistent with the thermal Yarkovsky effect. We conclude that the cluster is a genetic family formed either in a collision or through multiple rotational fissions. The cluster's age is on the order of 1 Gyr, and its long-term orbital evolution is likely dominated by the seasonal, rather than diurnal, Yarkovsky effect. If confirmed, Gyr-scale dominance of the seasonal Yarkovsky effect may indicate suppression of the diurnal Yarkovsky drift by the related YORP effect. Further study of Mars Trojans is essential for understanding the long-term orbital and rotational dynamics of small bodies in the absence of frequent collisions.

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“…Terrestrial planets may support a population of Trojan asteroids, (e.g. the Earth Trojan 2010 TK 7 discovered by Connors et al 2011), but so far no stable population has been identified.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Broadband linear polarization of Jupiter Trojans

Bagnulo

Belskaya

Stinson

et al. 2016

A&A

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Context. Trojan asteroids orbit in the Lagrange points of the system Sun-planet-asteroid. Their dynamical stability make their physical properties important proxies for the early evolution of our solar system. Aims. To study their origin, we want to characterize the surfaces of Jupiter Trojan asteroids and check possible similarities with objects of the main belt and of the Kuiper Belt. Methods. We have obtained high-accuracy broadband linear polarization measurements of six Jupiter Trojans of the L4 population and tried to estimate the main features of their polarimetric behaviour. We have compared the polarimetric properties of our targets among themselves, and with those of other atmosphere-less bodies of our solar system. Results. Our sample show approximately homogeneous polarimetric behaviour, although some distinct features are found between them. In general, the polarimetric properties of Trojan asteroids are similar to those of D-and P-type main-belt asteroids. No sign of coma activity is detected in any of the observed objects.Conclusions. An extended polarimetric survey may help to further investigate the origin and the surface evolution of Jupiter Trojans.

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Earth’s Trojan asteroid

Cited by 183 publications

References 18 publications

Space-Based Thermal Infrared Studies of Asteroids

Space-Based Thermal Infrared Studies of Asteroids

Yarkovsky-driven spreading of the Eureka family of Mars Trojans

Broadband linear polarization of Jupiter Trojans

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