1998 VF31 is a small sized asteroid which orbits the L5 Lagrange point trailing 60° behind Mars in its orbit. It is in a highly stable orbit around the Martian Lagrange point and was originally thought to be spectroscopically similar to 5261 Eureka, suggesting they may both be primordial Martian asteroids.[3] Newer specral measurements, however, reveal differeces differences in the spectra with 5261 Eureka, suggesting they may not be related to each other after all.[2]
Discovery[1] | |
---|---|
Discovered by | LINEAR |
Discovery site | Socorro, New Mexico |
Discovery date | 1999-11-13 |
Designations | |
101429 | |
Martian L5 | |
Orbital characteristics[1] | |
Epoch 2455000.5 (2009-Jun-18.0) | |
Aphelion | 1.6772621 AU |
Perihelion | 1.3712821 AU |
1.5242721 AU | |
Eccentricity | 0.1003692 |
687.3725688d 1.88 yr 1.00058445 Martian years | |
124.35751° | |
Inclination | 31.29256° |
221.34517° | |
310.50813° | |
Physical characteristics | |
Spectral type | S-type asteroid[2] |
17.4 | |
Spectroscopic observations of 1998 VF31 indicate that it has a large proportion of metal and achondrites on its surface (either with or without a mesosiderite contribution); it could also indicate that the surface regolith has undergone space weathering.[2]
See also
External links
References
- ^ a b (101429) 1998 VF31 at the JPL Small-Body Database
- ^ a b c d Rivkin, Andrew S. (December 2007). "Composition of the L5 Mars Trojans: Neighbors, not Siblings". Icarus. 192 (2): 434–441. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2007.06.026.
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