Trojan (astronomy)
In astronomy, a trojan is a minor planet or moon that shares the orbit of a planet or larger moon, wherein the trojan remains in the same, stable position relative to the larger object. In particular, a trojan remains near one of the two trojan points of stability – designated L4 and L5 – which lie approximately 60° ahead of and behind the larger body, respectively. Trojan points make up two of five types of Lagrangian points, and a trojan is a type of Lagrangian object.
They are one type of co-orbital object. In this arrangement, the massive star and the smaller planet orbit about their common barycenter. A much smaller mass located at one of the Lagrangian points is subject to a combined gravitational force that acts through this barycenter. Hence the object can orbit around the barycenter with the same orbital period as the planet, and the arrangement can remain stable over time.
The Jupiter trojans account for most known trojans in the Solar System. They are divided into the Greek camp (L4) in front of and the Trojan camp (L5) trailing behind Jupiter in their orbit. More than 6,000 have been found so far and more than a million Jupiter trojans larger than one kilometer are thought to exist, whereas only a few Mars trojans (4) and Neptune trojans (17) have been found to date. Numerical calculations of the orbital dynamics involved indicate that Saturn and Uranus probably do not have any primordial trojans. The discovery of the first Earth trojan, 2010 TK7, was announced by NASA in 2011.
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