Asteroid discovered in Neptunian dead zone [L5 Neptune Trojan asteroid]

MSNBC ^ | 8/12/2010 | Denise Chow

[SunkenCiv]

The asteroid, which follows Neptune's orbit around the sun, ...classified as a Trojan, was found in a difficult-to-detect area near Neptune, known as the Lagrangian point L5. Lagrangian points are five areas in space where the gravitational tugs from two relatively massive bodies -- such as Neptune and the sun -- balance out. This allows smaller bodies, like asteroids, to remain stable and fixed in synch with the planet's orbit, as they orbit the sun... Trojan asteroids have previously been found in some of the stable points near Neptune and Jupiter, but this is the first discovery of a Trojan in Neptune's L5 region. "We believe Neptune Trojans outnumber the Jupiter Trojans and the main-belt asteroids between Mars and Jupiter," Scott Sheppard of the Carnegie Institution in Washington, D.C., told Space.com. "If Neptune was where the main-belt was, we'd know thousands of these objects." He added that thousands of Trojan asteroids are associated with Jupiter... Neptune Trojans are very faint because they are so far away from the Earth and the sun, making them difficult to detect. Astronomers Scott Sheppard of the Carnegie Institution in Washington and Chad Trujillo of the Gemini Observatory in Hawaii discovered the Trojan asteroid, 2008 LC18, through an innovative observational strategy... Sheppard and Trujillo had previously discovered three of the six known Neptune Trojans in the L4 region in the last several years. The L5 region is much more difficult to observe... "We estimate that the new Neptune Trojan has a diameter of about 62 miles (100 km), and that there are about 150 Neptune Trojans of similar size at L5," Sheppard said. "It matches the population estimates for the L4 Neptune stability regions."

[SunkenCiv]

• New Trojan Asteroid Hints At Huge Neptunian Cloud [6-15-2006, thanks blam] -- The asteroids orbit 60°, or about 5 billion kilometres, ahead of Neptune on its circular orbit around the Sun, which is a gravitationally stable location called a Lagrange point. But the newly-found asteroid is unique in that its orbit is tilted 25° relative to the plane of the solar system.

The new ones are behind Neptune in another LaGrange point.

[ClearCase_guy]

I’m just glad the trojan was found at this planet and not some other planet.

[SunkenCiv]

One, about 62 miles / 100 km in diameter, and an estimated 149 more. :') Two-list pingworthy!

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As I said, two-list pingworthy! And this way, no duplicate pings.

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[SunkenCiv]

I wonder what the expiration date was? I mean, probably should get a fresh one before Saturday night.

[JoeProBono]

[martin_fierro]

I got relatives in LaGrange, but they're anything but balanced.

[SunkenCiv]

That pic gives me an idea... “La Grange Donuts” ... perfect for eastern Canada...

[SunkenCiv]

asteroid orbit site:metaresearch.org

Google

in particular:

• The NEAR Challenge, Tom Van Flandern, Meta Research, December 1997 -- Although the NEAR-Eros challenge has been repeated on numerous occasions no mainstream supporter has been willing to accept the challenge under any terms, even though the terms were open to discussion. This reflects the unfortunate trend in astronomical theories to avoid setting falsification criteria because, if this were done, many favored theories would likely fall... "If the NEAR rendezvous with Eros [in January, 1999] shows it to be an isolated, single body, or even a simple 'binary asteroid', but without a debris field orbiting it, I will publicly concede before the next Division of Planetary Sciences meeting that the hypothesis leading to that prediction has failed. If the NEAR rendezvous with Eros shows it to be accompanied by a debris field (i.e., multiple orbiting moons), acceptors of this challenge will publicly concede before the next DPS meeting that the hypothesis that made that successful prediction has earned a second look by planetary scientists." ...Under eph premises, Eros is virtually certain to have multiple orbiting moons. In any other model, it would be a fluke if there were even one. To make this specific, let us say three or more distinct satellites now in orbit around Eros will constitute "multiple" ...one must draw the line somewhere, and the mainstream models clearly expect zero moons. I predict that three or more satellites 1-meter in size or larger constitutes a win for eph (thereby conceding a simple binary asteroid with a single, Dactyl-like orbiting moon to the mainstream).

thanks JPB!

to all -- Regarding multiple impacts which occurred basically simultaneously on Earth (various mass extinctions in the paleontological record), we've got this related topic, plus the recent ones about doublet craters and whatnot.

[SunkenCiv]

• Professor's research on asteroids published in Nature magazine

[Michigan Bowhunter]

I am glad it was not found on Uranus........or Barney Franks anus.

[Rodamala]

They gotta lotta nice girls.

(A haw, haw, haw, haw, a haw)

[NucSubs]

I get L1, 4, and 5, but L2 and L3 I never understood.

[Constitutionalist Conservative]

Neptunian dead zone

As Dave Barry might say... This would make a great name for a rock band.

[SunkenCiv]

:’) They just is. ;’)

[SunkenCiv]

Speaking of which, whatever happened to Duke Jupiter?

[SunkenCiv]

[MikeD]

L2 & L3 work because orbital velocity decreases as a function of increasing distance from the central object. However, at those points, there is a small additional tug from the secondary object, which effectively “drags” a small, tertiary orbiting body along with the secondary body.