Orbital and Absolute Magnitude Distribution of Jupiter Trojans

Abstract

Jupiter Trojans (JTs) librate about the Lagrangian stationary centers L4 and L5 associated with this planet on typically small-eccentricity and moderate-inclination heliocentric orbits. The physical and orbital properties of JTs provide important clues about the dynamical evolution of the giant planets in the early solar system, as well as populations of planetesimals in their source regions. Here we use decade-long observations from the Catalina Sky Survey (station G96) to determine the bias-corrected orbital and magnitude distributions of JTs. We distinguish the background JT population, filling smoothly the long-term stable orbital zone about L4 and L5 points and collisional families. We find that the cumulative magnitude distribution of JTs (the background population in our case) has a steep slope for H ≤ 9, followed by a moderately shallow slope until H ≃ 14.5, beyond which the distribution becomes even shallower. At H = 15 we find a local power-law exponent 0.38 ± 0.01. We confirm the asymmetry between the magnitude-limited background populations in L4 and L5 clouds characterized by a ratio 1.45 ± 0.05 for H < 15. Our analysis suggests an asymmetry in the inclination distribution of JTs, with the L4 population being tighter and the L5 population being broader. We also provide a new catalog of the synthetic proper elements for JTs with an updated identification of statistically robust families (9 at L4, and 4 at L5). The previously known Ennomos family is found to consist of two overlapping Deiphobus and Ennomos families.

Keywords

• Solar system astronomy
• Small Solar System bodies