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Title: A Collision Mechanism for the Removal of Earth's Trojan Asteroids
Abstract Due to their strong resonances with their host planet, Trojan asteroids can remain in stable orbits for billions of years. As a result, they are powerful probes for constraining the dynamical and chemical history of the solar system. Although we have detected thousands of Jupiter Trojans and dozens of Neptune Trojans, there are currently no known long-term stable Earth Trojans (ETs). Dynamical simulations show that the parameter space for stable ETs is substantial, so their apparent absence poses a mystery. This work uses a large ensemble ofN-body simulations to explore how the Trojan population dynamically responds if Earth suffers large collisions, such as those thought to have occurred to form the Moon and/or to have given Earth its late veneer. We show that such collisions can be highly disruptive to the primordial Trojan population, and could have eliminated it altogether. More specifically, if Earth acquired the final 1% of its mass through ( 10 ) collisions, then only ∼1% of the previously bound Trojan population would remain.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
2009096
PAR ID:
10367675
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ; ;
Publisher / Repository:
DOI PREFIX: 10.3847
Date Published:
Journal Name:
The Planetary Science Journal
Volume:
3
Issue:
5
ISSN:
2632-3338
Format(s):
Medium: X Size: Article No. 121
Size(s):
Article No. 121
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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