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21601 Aias
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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21601 Aias (provisional designation 1998 XO89) is a Jupiter trojan from the Greek camp, approximately 55 kilometers (34 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 15 December 1998, by astronomers with the Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research at the Lincoln Lab's ETS near Socorro, New Mexico.[1] The dark Jovian asteroid has a rotation period of 12.7 hours and belongs to the 80 largest Jupiter trojans.[8]
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Orbit and classification
Aias is a dark Jovian asteroid orbiting in the leading Greek camp at Jupiter's L4 Lagrangian point, 60° ahead of the Gas Giant's orbit in a 1:1 resonance .[3] It is also a non-family asteroid in the Jovian background population.[4]
It orbits the Sun at a distance of 5.0–5.4 AU once every 11 years and 11 months (4,356 days; semi-major axis of 5.22 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.04 and an inclination of 19° with respect to the ecliptic.[2] The body's observation arc begins with a precovery published by the Digitized Sky Survey and taken at the Siding Spring Observatory in March 1991, more than 7 years prior to its official discovery observation at Socorro.[1]
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Numbering and naming
This minor planet was numbered on 8 February 2001 (M.P.C. 22480).[9] It was named in April 2025 after Aias, also known as Ajax the Lesser, the leader of the Locrians who fought with the Acheans.[10]
Physical characteristics
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Aias is an assumed C-type asteroid. Its V–I color index of 0.97 is typical for that of D-type asteroids, the dominant spectral type among the Jupiter trojans.[8]
Rotation period
In April 2013, a rotational lightcurve of Aias was obtained from photometric observations by Robert Stephens at the Center for Solar System Studies (CS3) in California. Lightcurve analysis gave a rotation period of 12.65±0.01 hours and a brightness variation of 0.30 magnitude (U=2+).[7] Observations by his college Brian Warner at CS3 in July 2017, gave a similar period of 12.530 hours with an amplitude of 0.25 magnitude (U=2+).[a][b]
Diameter and albedo
According to the surveys carried out by the Japanese Akari satellite and the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Aias measures 54.91 and 56.08 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.064 and 0.100, respectively.[5][6] The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for a carbonaceous asteroid of 0.057 and calculates a diameter of 55.67 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 10.0.[8]
100+ largest Jupiter trojans
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Notes
- Unpublished /Not available at ADS: observations from July 2017 by Brian Warner / Robert Stephens. Rotation period 12.530±0.005 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.25±0.02 mag. Quality code of 2+. Summary figures for (21601) 1998 XO89 at the LCDB
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References
External links
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