Table of Contents
Why do the Trojan asteroids not collide with Jupiter?
Trojans: These asteroids share an orbit with a larger planet, but do not collide with it because they gather around two special places in the orbit (called the L4 and L5 Lagrangian points). There, the gravitational pull from the Sun and the planet are balanced by a trojan’s tendency to otherwise fly out of orbit.
Why is Jupiter a dwarf planet?
Following the laws of Kepler, Jupiter and the Trojans have the same speed, so Jupiter can’t catch them and although Jupiter’s gravity is very strong, it does not stretch to the other side of the sun, which means, following the definition, that Jupiter is a dwarf planet.
Is Jupiter the only planet to have Trojan asteroids in its orbit?
The term “Trojan asteroid” is normally understood to specifically mean the Jupiter trojans because the first Trojans were discovered near Jupiter’s orbit and Jupiter currently has by far the most known Trojans.
Why is Pluto not considered a planet?
Answer. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) downgraded the status of Pluto to that of a dwarf planet because it did not meet the three criteria the IAU uses to define a full-sized planet. Essentially Pluto meets all the criteria except one—it “has not cleared its neighboring region of other objects.”
How is the orbit of an asteroid different to the orbit of a planet?
Asteroids are comprised of rock and metal, and are smaller than planets. Most of them are found in an ‘asteroid belt’, in orbit around the Sun between Mars and Jupiter. The orbits of some asteroids cross the Earth’s orbit. At various times during the Earth’s history, asteroids have hit the Earth.
Why are there more Trojan asteroids in Jupiter’s L4 point than its L5 point?
Jupiter’s leading and trailing Lagrangian points are stable over the age of the solar system. The planet’s gravitational pull accelerates or decelerates the asteroids, causing them to librate — or oscillate — around the L4 and L5 points. This shepherds the Trojans into two elongated regions around those points.
How many Trojan asteroids does Jupiter have?
As of 2020, of the more than 7,000 Jupiter Trojan asteroids discovered, about two-thirds are located near L4, and the remainder are near L5. Astronomers estimate that 1,800–2,200 of the total existing population of Jupiter’s Trojans have diameters greater than 15 km (10 miles).