astronomy

Venus trojan

Venus trojan is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Venus trojan rather than just read about it. In short: A Venus trojan is an asteroid that orbits the Sun in the vicinity of Venus. Trojans travel in Venus-Sun Lagrangian points L4, leading 60°, or L5, trailing 60°. 2013 ND15 is the only known trojan of Venus, and is located near Venus's Lagrangian point L4.

Key takeaways

Venus trojan belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Venus trojan to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Venus trojan from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

A Venus trojan is an asteroid that orbits the Sun in the vicinity of Venus. Trojans travel in Venus-Sun Lagrangian points L4, leading 60°, or L5, trailing 60°. 2013 ND15 is the only known trojan of Venus, and is located near Venus's Lagrangian point L4. While 524522 Zoozve is currently a quasi-satellite of Venus, it is expected to be ejected from that configuration and become a Venus trojan orbiting at Venus' L5 point in about 500 years.

Exploration

The only known temporary trojan of Venus is 2013 ND15. It orbits Venus in a tadpole orbit around Venus's Lagrangian point L4. The asteroid was discovered in July 2013 by N. Primak, A. Schultz, T. Goggia and K. Chambers, observing for the Pan-STARRS project. As of September 2014, the asteroid had been observed 21 times over a data-arc span of 26 days. It is classified as an Aten asteroid, and its semi-major axis is 0.7235 astronomical units (AU) closely matches that of Venus. However, it has a high eccentricity of 0.6115 and a low orbital inclination of 4.794°. With an absolute magnitude of 24.1, its estimated diameter ranges between 40 and 100 meters, based on an assumed albedo range of 0.04 to 0.20. In addition to being a Venus co-orbital, the asteroid is also a Mercury-crosser and Earth-crosser. 2013 ND15 shows resonant or near-resonant orbital behavior with Mercury, Venus, and Earth. Its short-term orbital behavior differs from the other three known Venus co-orbitals: (322756) 2001 CK32, 524522 Zoozve, and 2012 XE133. According to a Minor Planet Center list, it does not list 2013 ND15 as a potentially hazardous asteroid (PHA), as it has only passed 0.077 AU from Earth on 21 June 2016.

See also Trojan (celestial body) Earth trojan Mars trojan Jupiter trojan Uranus trojan Neptune trojan

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Venus trojan

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Venus trojan claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Venus trojan before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Venus trojan ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Venus trojan

In research: Venus trojan appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Venus trojan in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Venus trojan is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Lists of asteroids, Trojan minor planets, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Venus trojan outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Venus trojan in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Venus trojan means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Venus trojan out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Venus trojan in simple terms?

Why does Venus trojan matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Venus trojan?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Venus trojan.