Search strategies for Trojan asteroids in the inner Solar System

TL;DR

This paper develops models and strategies for efficiently detecting Trojan asteroids near terrestrial planets, enhancing understanding of early Solar System dynamics and informing future observational efforts.

Contribution

It introduces optimized search models and strategies for survey telescopes to improve detection of inner Solar System Trojans, considering Gaia satellite constraints.

Findings

Models identify optimal search regions for Trojans.

Strategies increase detection probability for survey telescopes.

Analysis of Gaia's observational limitations on Trojan detection.

Abstract

Trojan asteroids are minor planets that share the orbit of a planet about the Sun and librate around the L4 or L5 Lagrangian points of stability. They are important because they carry information on early Solar System formation, when collisions between bodies were more frequent. Discovery and study of terrestrial planet Trojans will help constrain models for the distribution of bodies and interactions in the inner Solar System. We present models that constrain optimal search areas, and strategies for survey telescopes to maximize the probability of detecting inner planet Trojans. We also consider implications for detection with respect to the Gaia satellite, and limitations of Gaia's observing geometry.