4007 Euryalos
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| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | C. J. van Houten I. van Houten-G. T. Gehrels |
| Discovery site | Palomar Obs. |
| Discovery date | 19 September 1973 |
| Designations | |
| (4007) Euryalos | |
| Pronunciation | /jʊˈraɪələs/[2] |
Named after | Euryalus (Greek mythology)[1] |
| 1973 SR · 1977 AK2 1986 VH5 · 1989 AR1 | |
| Jupiter trojan[1][3] Greek[4] · background[5] | |
| Orbital characteristics[3] | |
| Epoch 23 March 2018 (JD 2458200.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 44.68 yr (16,319 d) |
| Aphelion | 5.4636 AU |
| Perihelion | 4.8879 AU |
| 5.1758 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.0556 |
| 11.78 yr (4,301 d) | |
| 213.56° | |
| 0° 5m 1.32s / day | |
| Inclination | 11.002° |
| 6.7476° | |
| 77.957° | |
| Jupiter MOID | 0.1658 AU |
| TJupiter | 2.9600 |
| Physical characteristics | |
| 45.52±0.35 km[6] 48.48 km (calculated)[7] 53.89±3.94 km[8] | |
| 6.391±0.005 h[9] | |
| 0.057 (assumed)[7] 0.061±0.009[8] 0.065±0.017[6] | |
| C (assumed)[7] | |
| 10.00[8] 10.3[1][3][6][7] | |
4007 Euryalos /jʊˈraɪələs/ is a larger Jupiter trojan from the Greek camp, approximately 48 kilometers (30 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 19 September 1973, by Dutch astronomers Ingrid and Cornelis van Houten at Leiden, and Tom Gehrels at Palomar Observatory in California.[1] The likely spherical Jovian asteroid is the principal body of the proposed Euryalos family and has a rotation period of 6.4 hours.[7] It was named after the warrior Euryalus from Greek mythology.[1]
Euryalos family
Euryalos is a dark Jovian asteroid in a 1:1 orbital resonance with Jupiter. It is located in the leading Greek camp at the Gas Giant's L4 Lagrangian point, 60° ahead on its orbit .[4] It orbits the Sun at a distance of 4.9–5.5 AU once every 11 years and 9 months (4,301 days; semi-major axis of 5.18 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.06 and an inclination of 11° with respect to the ecliptic.[3] The body's observation arc begins with its official discovery observation at Palomar in September 1976.[1]
Fernando Roig and Ricardo Gil-Hutton identified Euryalos as the principal body of a small Jovian asteroid family, using the hierarchical clustering method (HCM), which looks for groupings of neighboring asteroids based on the smallest distances between them in the proper orbital element space. According to the astronomers, the Euryalos family belongs to the larger Menelaus clan, an aggregation of Jupiter trojans which is composed of several families, similar to the Flora family in the inner asteroid belt.[10]: 9, 10
However this family is not included in David Nesvorný's HCM-analysis from 2014.[11] Instead, Euryalos is listed as a non-family asteroid of the Jovian background population on the Asteroids Dynamic Site (AstDyS) which based on another analysis by Milani and Knežević.[5]
Palomar–Leiden Trojan survey
Despite being discovered during the second Palomar–Leiden Trojan survey in 1973, Euryalos has not received a provisional survey designation prefixed with "T-2". The survey was a fruitful collaboration between the Palomar and Leiden observatories during the 1960s and 1970s. Gehrels used Palomar's Samuel Oschin telescope (also known as the 48-inch Schmidt Telescope), and shipped the photographic plates to Ingrid and Cornelis van Houten at Leiden Observatory where astrometry was carried out. The trio are credited with the discovery of several thousand asteroids.[12]
Naming
This minor planet was named from Greek mythology after the warrior Euryalos, the leader of the Greek contingent from Argos during the Trojan War.[1] The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 11 March 1990 (M.P.C. 16042).[13]
