Photometric Properties of Jupiter Trojans detected by the Dark Energy Survey

TL;DR

This study analyzes the photometric properties of a large sample of Jupiter Trojans using Dark Energy Survey data, revealing color-size correlations and taxonomic classifications that inform models of solar system evolution.

Contribution

It provides one of the largest homogeneous photometric datasets of Jupiter Trojans, extending previous studies to fainter magnitudes and offering new insights into their color distribution and taxonomy.

Findings

L5 Trojans' colors become less red with fainter magnitudes

Color-size correlation observed in both L4 and L5 Trojans

C and P-type asteroids outnumber D-type in the L5 group

Abstract

The Jupiter Trojans are a large group of asteroids that are co-orbiting with Jupiter near its L4 and L5 Lagrange points. The study of Jupiter Trojans is crucial for testing different models of planet formation that are directly related to our understanding of solar system evolution. In this work, we select known Jupiter Trojans listed by the Minor Planet Center (MPC) from the full six years dataset (Y6) of the Dark Energy Survey (DES) to analyze their photometric properties. The DES data allow us to study Jupiter Trojans with a fainter magnitude limit than previous studies in a homogeneous survey with $griz$ band measurements. We extract a final catalog of 573 unique Jupiter Trojans. Our sample include 547 asteroids belonging to L5. This is one of the largest analyzed samples for this group. By comparing with the data reported by other surveys we found that the color distribution of L5 Trojans is similar to that of L4 Trojans. We find that L5 Trojans' $g - i$ and $g - r$ colors become less red with fainter absolute magnitudes, a trend also seen in L4 Trojans. Both the L4 and L5 clouds consistently show such a color-size correlation over an absolute magnitude range $11 < H < 18$. We also use DES colors to perform taxonomic classifications. C and P-type asteroids outnumber D-type asteroids in the L5 Trojans DES sample, which have diameters in the 5 - 20 km range. This is consistent with the color-size correlation.