Earth Co-orbital Objects

Details Earth Co-orbital Objects Earth Co-orbital Objects

Dec 2002

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2002agufm.p11a0352w&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2002, abstract #P11A-0352

Other

6035 Orbital And Rotational Dynamics, 6205 Asteroids And Meteoroids

Scientific paper

The recent discovery of asteroid 2002 AA29 by the LINEAR survey and the realization of its co-orbital relationship with Earth lead us to consider the characteristics of Earth Co-orbital Objects (ECOs) in general. An object with semimajor axis between 0.99 and 1.01 AU is in 1:1 resonance with the Earth. To be co-orbital in the sense of moving along the Earth's orbit, an object must further have its other orbital parameters similar to those of the Earth. Clarification is needed as to what range of orbital parameters can be regarded as similar enough to permit classification as an ECO. ECOs would be expected to librate on tadpole or horseshoe orbits, be relatively easy to access with spacecraft, and to sometimes exhibit quasisatellite behavior. 2002 AA29 is on a horseshoe orbit and was discovered in a general asteroid survey while near Earth at one end of the horseshoe orbit. Searches for Earth Trojan asteroids, which would be members of the ECO class on tadpole orbits near a triangular Lagrange Point, have not yet been successful. While 2002 AA29 has an orbit even less eccentric than Earth's, it has an inclination of about 10 degrees. 2000 PH5 and 2001 GO2 are on horseshoe orbits and interact gravitationally with Earth to 'bounce' when they approach the Earth from either side. With eccentricities of .23 and .17 respectively, they do not have decidedly Earth-like orbits despite inclinations less that 5 degrees. When in quasi-satellite mode, a body exhibits a looping motion relative to Earth in some ways resembling a satellite orbit. Several resonant bodies including 3753 Cruithne exhibit this behavior at times, but ECOs remain close to Earth while doing it. We suggest that directed searches be used to discover ECOs and characterize this class of objects. Orbital simulations suggest the best target spaces, which are only partially covered by present general searches.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

Earth Co-orbital Objects does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Earth Co-orbital Objects, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Earth Co-orbital Objects will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1891771