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An Earth trojan is an asteroid that orbits the Sun in the vicinity of the Earth–Sun Lagrange points L 4 (leading 60°) or L 5 (trailing 60°), thus having an orbit similar to Earth's. Only two Earth trojans have so far been discovered.
2010 TK 7 was confirmed to be the first known Earth trojan in 2011. It is located in the L 4 Lagrangian point, which lies ahead of the Earth. [14] (614689) 2020 XL 5 was found to be another Earth trojan in 2021. It is also at L4. [15] [16] (687170) 2011 QF 99 was identified as the first Uranus trojan in 2013. It is located at the L 4 Lagrangian ...
This makes 2020 XL 5 the largest Earth trojan asteroid known to date, being up to three times as large as the 0.3 km (0.19 mi)-sized 2010 TK 7. [ 7 ] Because 2020 XL 5 is only visible at low altitudes in the sky during twilight , atmospheric distortions and scattered light from the Sun hinder accurate photometry of the asteroid's light curve ...
Four large asteroids will make their closest approaches to Earth on Thursday, each passing by the planet within a 24-hour time frame. Two had already zipped past early in the morning, according to ...
NASA has blasted a spacecraft, traveling at speeds up to 92,000 mph, to the most mysterious asteroids in our solar system.Called the Trojan asteroids, they are trapped in two swarms — one in ...
L 4 is the Sun–Earth Lagrange point located close to the Earth's orbit 60° ahead of Earth. Asteroid (706765) 2010 TK 7 is the first discovered tadpole orbit companion to Earth, orbiting L 4 ; like Earth, its mean distance to the Sun is about one astronomical unit .
In the moments before NASA's DART spacecraft slammed into the asteroid Dimorphos in a landmark planetary defense test in 2022, it took high-resolution images of this small celestial object and its ...
[4] [5] Trojan objects are most easily conceived as orbiting at a Lagrangian point, a dynamically stable location (where the combined gravitational force acts through the Sun's and Earth's barycenter) 60 degrees ahead of or behind a massive orbiting body, in a type of 1:1 orbital resonance. In reality, they oscillate around such a point.