Search strategies for Trojan asteroids in the inner Solar System

Trojan asteroids are minor planets that share the orbit of a planet about the Sun and librate around the L4 or L5 Lagrangian points of stability. They are important because they carry information on early Solar System formation, when collisions between bodies were more frequent. Discovery and study...

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Main Authors: Todd, Michael, Coward, D., Zadnik, Marjan
Format: Journal Article
Published: Elsevier 2012
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/49578
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author Todd, Michael
Coward, D.
Zadnik, Marjan
author_facet Todd, Michael
Coward, D.
Zadnik, Marjan
author_sort Todd, Michael
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Trojan asteroids are minor planets that share the orbit of a planet about the Sun and librate around the L4 or L5 Lagrangian points of stability. They are important because they carry information on early Solar System formation, when collisions between bodies were more frequent. Discovery and study of terrestrial planet Trojans will help constrain models for the distribution of bodies and interactions in the inner Solar System. We present models that constrain optimal search areas, and strategies for survey telescopes to maximize the probability of detecting inner planet Trojans. We also consider implications for detection with respect to the Gaia satellite, and limitations of Gaia's observing geometry.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-495782024-06-06T02:20:04Z Search strategies for Trojan asteroids in the inner Solar System Todd, Michael Coward, D. Zadnik, Marjan Earth asteroids trojans Planetary Astrophysics Trojan asteroids are minor planets that share the orbit of a planet about the Sun and librate around the L4 or L5 Lagrangian points of stability. They are important because they carry information on early Solar System formation, when collisions between bodies were more frequent. Discovery and study of terrestrial planet Trojans will help constrain models for the distribution of bodies and interactions in the inner Solar System. We present models that constrain optimal search areas, and strategies for survey telescopes to maximize the probability of detecting inner planet Trojans. We also consider implications for detection with respect to the Gaia satellite, and limitations of Gaia's observing geometry. 2012 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/49578 10.1016/j.pss.2011.11.002 Elsevier fulltext
spellingShingle Earth
asteroids
trojans
Planetary Astrophysics
Todd, Michael
Coward, D.
Zadnik, Marjan
Search strategies for Trojan asteroids in the inner Solar System
title Search strategies for Trojan asteroids in the inner Solar System
title_full Search strategies for Trojan asteroids in the inner Solar System
title_fullStr Search strategies for Trojan asteroids in the inner Solar System
title_full_unstemmed Search strategies for Trojan asteroids in the inner Solar System
title_short Search strategies for Trojan asteroids in the inner Solar System
title_sort search strategies for trojan asteroids in the inner solar system
topic Earth
asteroids
trojans
Planetary Astrophysics
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/49578