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Chapter 15: Problem 12

What are the Trojan asteroids, and where are they located? What holds them in this location?

Short Answer

Expert verified
Trojan asteroids are a group of celestial bodies that share an orbit with a planet, typically found in the orbits of Jupiter, Neptune, Mars, and Earth. They are located at the two Lagrange points in the orbit, which are 60 degrees ahead and behind the planet. The balance between the gravitational pull of the sun and the planet they orbit holds these asteroids in this location.

Step by step solution

01

Definition of Trojan Asteroids

Trojan asteroids, named after characters from 'The Iliad', are a substantial group of asteroids that share an orbit with a planet. Most are found in the orbits of Jupiter, with smaller numbers in the orbits of Neptune, Mars, and Earth.
02

Location of Trojan Asteroids

Trojan asteroids are found at the two Lagrange points, which are points in space where the gravitational forces of a two-body system like the Sun and Jupiter, produce enhanced regions of attraction and repulsion. These points are 60 degrees ahead and behind the planet in its orbit, forming an equilateral triangle with the planet and the Sun.
03

Factors Holding Trojan Asteroids at Their Location

These asteroids are held at this location due to a balancing act between the gravitational pull of the sun and the planet they share an orbit with. The gravitational forces at the Lagrange points make it possible for asteroids to remain stabilized there indefinitely unless perturbed by an external force.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

Imagine that you are an astronaut standing on the surface of a Trojan asteroid. How will you see the phase of Jupiter change with the passage of time? How will you see Jupiter move relative to the distant stars? Explain your answers.

Use the Starry Night Enthusiast \({ }^{\mathrm{TM}}\) program to examine Comet Halley as it would have been seen during its last visit to the Sun and the inner solar system. Display the entire celestial sphere as seen from the center of a transparent Earth by clicking on Guides \(>\) Atlas in the Favourites pane. Stop time flow and set the date to February 28, 1986, and the time to midnight, 12:00:00 A.M. Center on Halley's Comet by using Edit > Find and entering the name Halley in the Search box. Set the Time Flow Rate to 6 hours. From this view at the Earth's center with daylight turned off, you will note that the Sun is to the left of the view, on the ecliptic plane, as expected. (a) Based on the direction of the comet's tail, can you tell in which direction the comet is moving at this instant in time? Step time forward by a few steps to check your prediction. (b) Did Halley's Comet move in the direction that you predicted in (a) above? Run time backward to about January 7,1986 , and then run time forward and backward again several times to observe Halley's comet and particularly the direction of its tail during this encounter with the Sun. (c) In what direction does the tail of the comet point? Explain why.

. In the 1998 movie Armageddon, an asteroid "the size of Texas" is on a collision course with Earth. The asteroid is first discovered by astronomers just 18 days prior to impact. To avert disaster, a team of astronauts blasts the asteroid into two pieces just 4 hours before impact. Discuss the plausibility of this scenario. (Hint: On average, the state of Texas extends for about \(750 \mathrm{~km}\) from north to south and from east to west. How does this compare with the size of the largest known asteroids?)

A NASA spacecraft called Dawn is intended to go into orbit around two asteroids, 1 Ceres and 4 Vesta. Search the World Wide Web for information about this mission. Why were these two particular asteroids selected for study? What types of observations will the spacecraft make?

Why do astronomers think that meteorites come from asteroids, while meteor showers are related to comets?
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