Question

What is the defining property of the Trojan asteroids?

1) They have orbits at the distance of Jupiter and 60 degrees ahead of or behind it.
2) Like Pluto, they are in a 3:2 resonance with Neptune.
3) Their orbital periods are exactly one year, like ours.
4) They have orbits between Saturn and Uranus.
5) They have orbits that cross the orbit of the Earth, but not that of Venus.

Answer 1

Trojan asteroids are defined by their orbits at Jupiter's distance from the Sun, positioned 60 degrees ahead of or behind Jupiter.

The defining property of the Trojan asteroids is:

They have orbits at the distance of Jupiter and 60 degrees ahead of or behind it.

Step-by-step explanation:

The defining property of Trojan asteroids is option 1: They have orbits at the distance of Jupiter and 60 degrees ahead of or behind it in what are known as the L4 and L5 Lagrangian points.

These points are regions of stability where the combined gravitational forces of the Sun and Jupiter allow asteroids to coexist with minimal orbital perturbation. Unlike the majority of asteroids located in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, which have orbital periods between 3.3 to 6 years, Trojan asteroids share Jupiter's orbital period of almost 12 years due to them being approximately at the same distance from the Sun as Jupiter, which is about 5 astronomical units (AU).

The defining property of the Trojan asteroids is that they have orbits at the distance of Jupiter and 60 degrees ahead of or behind it. They are called Trojans because they are named after a group of asteroids that share this property, named after characters from the Trojan War.