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<\/a>Discovered in Jupiter’s orbit in 1906 (588 Achilles was the first one), there have been 4,076 Jupiter Trojans found so far. There are believed to be over a million Jupiter Trojans larger than 1 km in diameter. As in the main asteroid belt, the Trojans form asteroid “families”. Currently, most scientist believe the Trojans are “captured” Kuiper Belt Objects. Sometimes the “capture” appears to imperfect. The comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 is believed to have been one such imperfect capture.<\/p>
Currently there are only four known Mars Trojans, and seven around Neptune. There may be many more Trojans than those recorded so far; we’re just not in a position to see them yet. Perhaps when New Horizons passes Neptune…<\/p>
<\/a>Martian Trojans, image by Andrew Buck, all rights reserved<\/p><\/div>
There is some speculation that the Trojans are a source for new short-period comets and Centaurs. Considering the four discovered around Mars, that puts them in our very near back yard.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In astronomy, a Trojan is an asteroid or moon that shares an orbit with a larger asteroid or moon, but does not collide with it. The Trojan orbits within one of the Lagrangian points of stability ahead or behind the … Continue reading