is a small
asteroid
An asteroid is a minor planet—an object larger than a meteoroid that is neither a planet nor an identified comet—that orbits within the Solar System#Inner Solar System, inner Solar System or is co-orbital with Jupiter (Trojan asteroids). As ...
and
Mars trojan
The Mars trojans are a group of trojan objects that share the orbit of the planet Mars around the Sun. They can be found around the two Lagrangian points 60° ahead of and behind Mars. The origin of the Mars trojans is not well understood. One t ...
orbiting near the of
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...
(60 degrees behind Mars on its orbit).
Discovery, orbit and physical properties
was first observed on 16 September 2009 by the
Catalina Sky Survey
Catalina Sky Survey (CSS; obs. code: 703) is an astronomical survey to discover comets and asteroids. It is conducted at the Steward Observatory's Catalina Station, located near Tucson, Arizona, in the United States.
CSS focuses on the searc ...
(CSS).
[ Its orbit is characterized by low eccentricity (0.065), moderate inclination (20.6°) and a semi-major axis of 1.52 AU.][MPC data on 2009 SE]
/ref> Upon discovery, it was classified as Mars-crosser
A Mars-crossing asteroid (MCA, also Mars-crosser, MC) is an asteroid whose orbit crosses that of Mars. Some Mars-crossers numbered below 100000 are listed here. They include the two numbered Mars trojans 5261 Eureka and .
Many databases, for i ...
by the Minor Planet Center
The Minor Planet Center (MPC) is the official body for observing and reporting on minor planets under the auspices of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Founded in 1947, it operates at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory.
Funct ...
. Its orbit is well determined as it is currently (January 2021) based on 56 observations with a data-arc span of 3,133 days.[
]
Mars trojan and orbital evolution
Recent calculations indicate that it is a stable Mars trojan
The Mars trojans are a group of trojan objects that share the orbit of the planet Mars around the Sun. They can be found around the two Lagrangian points 60° ahead of and behind Mars. The origin of the Mars trojans is not well understood. One t ...
with a libration period of 1430 yr and an amplitude of 70°.[ The libration amplitude is not similar to that of 5261 Eureka and related objects.
]
Mars trojan
(''leading''):
* †
(''trailing''):
* 5261 Eureka (1990 MB) †
* †
* †
*
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*
*
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See also
*
References
Further reading
Three new stable L5 Mars Trojans
de la Fuente Marcos, C., de la Fuente Marcos, R. 2013, ''Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters'', Vol. 432, Issue 1, pp. 31–35.
Orbital clustering of Martian Trojans: An asteroid family in the inner solar system?
Christou, A. A. 2013, ''Icarus'', Vol. 224, Issue 1, pp. 144–153.
External links
data at MPC.
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:2009 SE
Mars trojans
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Minor planet object articles (unnumbered)
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