Venus trojan

Simulation of 2013 ND₁₅’s orbit relative to Sun and Venus
Sun · Venus · 2013 ND₁₅

A Venus trojan is an asteroid that orbits the Sun in the vicinity of Venus. Trojans travel in Venus-Sun Lagrangian points L₄, leading 60°, or L₅, trailing 60°.^[1] 2013 ND15 is the only known trojan of Venus, and is located near Venus's Lagrangian point L₄. While 524522 Zoozve is currently a quasi-satellite of Venus, it is expected to be ejected from that configuration and become a Venus trojan orbiting at Venus' L₅ point in about 500 years.^[2]

List of Venus trojans
Designation	Cloud	Semimajor axis (AU)	Perihelion (AU)	Eccentricity	Inclination (°)	(H)	Diameter (m)
2013 ND₁₅	L4	1.20	0.72	0.39	2.65	18.3	0.6±0.8

Exploration

The only known temporary trojan of Venus is 2013 ND₁₅. It orbits Venus in a tadpole orbit around Venus's Lagrangian point L₄. The asteroid was discovered in July 2013 by N. Primak, A. Schultz, T. Goggia and K. Chambers, observing for the Pan-STARRS project.^[3]

As of September 2014, the asteroid had been observed 21 times over a data-arc span of 26 days. It is classified as an Aten asteroid, and its semi-major axis is 0.7235 astronomical units (AU) closely matches that of Venus. However, it has a high eccentricity of 0.6115 and a low orbital inclination of 4.794°. With an absolute magnitude of 24.1, its estimated diameter ranges between 40 and 100 meters, based on an assumed albedo range of 0.04 to 0.20.

In addition to being a Venus co-orbital, the asteroid is also a Mercury-crosser and Earth-crosser. 2013 ND₁₅ shows resonant or near-resonant orbital behavior with Mercury, Venus, and Earth. Its short-term orbital behavior differs from the other three known Venus co-orbitals: 2001 CK32, 524522 Zoozve, and 2012 XE133.^[4]

According to a Minor Planet Center list, it does not list 2013 ND₁₅ as a potentially hazardous asteroid (PHA), as it has only passed 0.077 AU from Earth on 21 June 2016.

References

^ Xu, Yang-Bo; Zhou, Lei; Lhotka, Christoph; Zhou, Li-Yong; Ip, Wing-Huen (13 June 2022). "Trojan asteroids and the co-orbital dust ring of Venus". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 666: A88. arXiv:2206.06114. Bibcode:2022A&A...666A..88X. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202243377.
^ Mikkola, S.; Brasser, R.; Wiegert, P.; Innanen, K. (2004-07-01). "Asteroid 2002 VE68, a quasi-satellite of Venus". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 351 (3): L63 – L65. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2004.07994.x. ISSN 0035-8711.
^ de la Fuente Marcos, C.; de la Fuente Marcos, R. (2014-04-11). "Asteroid 2013 ND15: Trojan companion to Venus, PHA to the Earth". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 439 (3): 2970–2977. arXiv:1401.5013. doi:10.1093/mnras/stu152. ISSN 0035-8711.
^ de la Fuente Marcos, C.; de la Fuente Marcos, R. (2014). "Asteroid 2013 ND15: Trojan companion to Venus, PHA to the Earth". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 439 (3): 2970–2977. arXiv:1401.5013. Bibcode:2014MNRAS.439.2970D. doi:10.1093/mnras/stu152.

[1] Xu, Yang-Bo; Zhou, Lei; Lhotka, Christoph; Zhou, Li-Yong; Ip, Wing-Huen (13 June 2022). "Trojan asteroids and the co-orbital dust ring of Venus". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 666: A88. arXiv:2206.06114. Bibcode:2022A&A...666A..88X. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202243377.

[2] Mikkola, S.; Brasser, R.; Wiegert, P.; Innanen, K. (2004-07-01). "Asteroid 2002 VE68, a quasi-satellite of Venus". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 351 (3): L63 – L65. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2004.07994.x. ISSN 0035-8711.

[3] Fuente Marcos, C.; de la Fuente Marcos, R. (2014-04-11). "Asteroid 2013 ND15: Trojan companion to Venus, PHA to the Earth". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 439 (3): 2970–2977. arXiv:1401.5013. doi:10.1093/mnras/stu152. ISSN 0035-8711.

[4] Fuente Marcos, C.; de la Fuente Marcos, R. (2014). "Asteroid 2013 ND15: Trojan companion to Venus, PHA to the Earth". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 439 (3): 2970–2977. arXiv:1401.5013. Bibcode:2014MNRAS.439.2970D. doi:10.1093/mnras/stu152.

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