Meet the Earth Trojan asteroid, only second of its kind to be discovered!
A new study published on Tuesday has revealed an existence for this unique space rock. This isn’t just any old piece that you would find lying around in our solar system – it’s one from inside ourselves- named after Greek mythology’s famed appropriation: “The Trojans.”
Astronomers at the Southern Astrophysical Research Telescope in Chile found asteroid 2020 XL5 while operating on August 31st. The team has now published their study about this exciting discovery with Nature Communications, which you can read here!
What are trojans? They’re objects that share an orbit with a planet. The two areas where this happens, known as Lagrange points, are uniquely balanced and stable enough for life – which we know exists elsewhere in our solar system!
When both the sun and a planet’s gravitational pull are equally balanced at Lagrange points, these areas in space help to balance out any stresses that may come from having too much or not enough mass.
“This is a major discovery that could revolutionize our understanding of the Solar System,” says Dr. Briceño. “If we’re able to find more Earth Trojans and some with lower inclinations in their orbits then they might become cheaper than moon-based exploration for an advanced space program or even resources! These discoveries will change how people think about going into deep outer regions like Mars.”
These objects in our solar system are fascinating! The first Earth Trojan,2010 TK7 is nearly three times smaller than 2020 XL5. It was discovered on December 12th of this year and then re-located with other telescopes so scientists could study it closer still; they were not sure what kind or size ball game we’re playing here at home but I’m guessing that these Trojans must be pretty big if even just one asteroid can make all those noises when dodgeball around Jupiter.
Trojans are named after the ancient Greeks who were known for their warring ways.
The Trojans, a class of periodic objects in our solar system known as asteroids and nearby dwarf planets such as Pluto (a Trojan moon) frequently get caught up in the confusion that is Earth’s Orbital Paths. These small celestial bodies move around one another at proximity but still have their orbits which take them sometimes far away from us while other times right back again!
The first Trojans were named after figures from Greek mythology, like Achilles and Patroclus.
The name was coined by Italian-French mathematician Joseph Louis Lagrange in 1772; he wanted to give them a feminine feel so they are usually referred to nowadays as “Lagrances” or Trudaines (a combination between Troyan + HIVES).
The Jupiter trojans are a group of small icy coins that share the planet’s orbit around our sun. Recently, NASA launched their Lucy mission to study these objects up close and find out what makes them tick!
The spacecraft is scheduled to reach the asteroids by 2027 and will provide scientists with an in-depth look at these trojans. They’re hoping that this information can give them a better understanding of how our solar system evolved when it first began construction tens of millions of years ago, which would be quite informative!
“It’s been a long time since we’ve had an opportunity like this,” said Cathy Olkin, Lucy’s Deputy Principal Investigator. “This is going to be amazing!”
Scientists are interested in understanding how our universe was formed, and they think that studying these Trojans will help them piece together some of the reasons why certain planets exist where there shouldn’t.
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