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New Delhi: A team of researchers have investigated the leading swarm of Jupiter Trojan asteroids, and found a lack of clear division into red and less red groups unlike the larger Jupiter Trojans, with a continuous colour distribution, with less-red objects being more abundant. The study also found no difference in size distribution between red and less-red asteroids, challenging the conventional hypotheses that the red asteroids fragment into less-red objects, suggesting that both populations undergo similar collisional processes. The research provides crucial constraints on the origin and evolution of Jupiter Trojan Asteroids. A paper describing the research has been published in The Astronomical Journal.

Jupiter has trapped two swarms of asteroids, that are known as Trojans. One swarm leads the planet with the other trailing in the gas giant’s orbit around the Sun. These are the gravitationally stable regions in Jupiter’s orbit where the asteroids tend to settle. Previous research has revealed that there are two types of Jupiter Trojans, the D-type which are red, and the P or C-types that are less red. This colour is believed to reflect the composition and formation distance from the Sun, with temperature gradients in the infancy of the Solar System determining which types of materials could condense where.

The puzzle of the Jupiter Trojans

The colour variation in the Jupiter Trojan population is somewhat of a mystery to scientists, indicating that the asteroids formed in different regions of the Solar System, yet they are trapped by Jupiter now. The exact reason for this colour variation is not known, but scientists suspect that there were large-scale migrations of giant planets in the early Solar System, that transported distant small bodies into the orbit of Jupiter. The researchers focused on the smaller asteroids as the surfaces of large asteroids change more dramatically over long periods of time because of exposure to space. This study is the results of the last observations of the Suprime-Cam before it was retired.