Abstract
Trojans are asteroids that share the same orbit as a planet, and they move around the triangular Lagrange points of the planet-Sun-asteroid system.
Several thousand Trojans have been observed on the orbit of Jupiter, and such celestial objects have also been found around Mars, Neptune and recently around the Earth. Particularly, Neptune Trojan cloud is believed to be the second largest reservoir of asteroids (only after the Kuiper belt but larger than the main asteroid belt) in the solar system. The distribution of these Trojans in space and their orbital dynamics have attracted much attention, because the formation and evolution of the Trojan cloud may bear important clues to the early stage evolution of our planetary system. In this seminar, I will present a panoramic investigation on the dynamics of Neptune Trojans under current planetary configuration. The important resonances that sculptured the stable region in the orbital element space are revealed. I will also show the orbital behavior of individual Neptune Trojans. Several scenarios in which the planetesimals were captured into the Trojan region by Neptune will be discussed.
Coffee and tea will be served 20 minutes prior to the seminar.