2011_UB256

<span class="nowrap">2011 UB<sub>256</sub></span>

2011 UB256

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2011 UB256 is a small asteroid and Mars trojan orbiting near the L5 point of Mars (60 degrees behind Mars on its orbit).[2][3][4]

Quick Facts Discovery, Discovered by ...

Discovery, orbit and physical properties

2011 UB256 was first observed on 29 October 2011 by the Pan-STARRS 1 telescope system at Haleakala; the Apache Point-Sloan Digital Sky Survey had imaged this object on 31 March 2003 without identifying it as an asteroid.[5] Its orbit is characterized by low eccentricity (0.071), moderate inclination (24.3°) and a semi-major axis of 1.52 AU.[5] Upon discovery, it was classified as Mars-crosser by the Minor Planet Center. Its orbit is well determined as it is currently (January 2021) based on 64 observations with a data-arc span of 6265 days.[1] 2011 UB256 has an absolute magnitude of 19.9 which gives a characteristic diameter of 300 m.[1]

Mars trojan and orbital evolution

Recent calculations indicate that it is a stable L5 Mars trojan.[2] It may not be a member of the so-called Eureka family.

Mars trojan

L4 (leading):

L5 (trailing):

See also

References

  1. [1]
    "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: (2011 UB256)". Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
  2. [2]
    Christou, Apostolos A.; Borisov, Galin; Dell'Oro, Aldo; Jacobson, Seth A.; Cellino, Alberto; Unda-Sanzana, Eduardo (January 2020). "Population control of Mars Trojans by the Yarkovsky & YORP effects". Icarus. 335 (1): 113370 (34 pages). arXiv:1907.12858. Bibcode:2020Icar..33513370C. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2019.07.004. S2CID 198985887.
  3. [3]
    Christou, Apostolos A.; Borisov, Galin; Dell'Oro, Aldo; Cellino, Alberto; Devogèle, Maxime (January 2021). "Composition and origin of L5 Trojan asteroids of Mars: Insights from spectroscopy". Icarus. 354 (1): 113994 (22 pages). arXiv:2010.10947. Bibcode:2021Icar..35413994C. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2020.113994. S2CID 224814529.
  4. [4]
    de la Fuente Marcos, Carlos; de la Fuente Marcos, Raúl (March 2021). "Using Mars co-orbitals to estimate the importance of rotation-induced YORP break-up events in Earth co-orbital space". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 501 (4): 6007–6025. arXiv:2101.02563. Bibcode:2021MNRAS.501.6007D. doi:10.1093/mnras/stab062.
  5. [5]
    MPC data on 2011 SP189
Further reading
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