A Thick Cloud of Neptune Trojans and Their Colors
- 28 July 2006
- journal article
- other
- Published by American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Science
- Vol. 313 (5786), 511-514
- https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1127173
Abstract
The dynamical and physical properties of asteroids offer one of the few constraints on the formation, evolution, and migration of the giant planets. Trojan asteroids share a planet's semimajor axis but lead or follow it by about 60° near the two triangular Lagrangian points of gravitational equilibrium. Here we report the discovery of a high-inclination Neptune Trojan, 2005 TN 53 . This discovery demonstrates that the Neptune Trojan population occupies a thick disk, which is indicative of “freeze-in” capture instead of in situ or collisional formation. The Neptune Trojans appear to have a population that is several times larger than the Jupiter Trojans. Our color measurements show that Neptune Trojans have statistically indistinguishable slightly red colors, which suggests that they had a common formation and evolutionary history and are distinct from the classical Kuiper Belt objects.Keywords
This publication has 29 references indexed in Scilit:
- The capture of Centaurs as TrojansMonthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters, 2006
- Neptune Trojans as a Test Bed for Planet FormationThe Astrophysical Journal, 2005
- Visible spectroscopic and photometric survey of L5 Trojans: investigation of dynamical familiesIcarus, 2004
- Survival of Trojan-type companions of Neptune during primordial planet migrationIcarus, 2004
- The formation of the Kuiper belt by the outward transport of bodies during Neptune's migrationNature, 2003
- ESO Large Programme on Trans-Neptunian Objects and Centaurs: Spectroscopic Investigation of Centaur 2001 BL41and TNOs (26181) 1996 GQ21and (26375) 1999 DE9The Astronomical Journal, 2003
- On the Origin of the Trojan Asteroids: Effects of Jupiter's Mass Accretion and Radial MigrationIcarus, 2000
- The Role of Secular Resonances in the History of TrojansIcarus, 2000
- Dynamical Effects of Planetary Migration on Primordial Trojan-Type AsteroidsThe Astronomical Journal, 1998
- The Effect of the Nebula on the Trojan PrecursorsIcarus, 1993