4792 Lykaon facts for kids

4792 Lykaon is a space rock, also known as an asteroid. It's a special type called a Jupiter trojan. This means it shares an orbit with the giant planet Jupiter. Lykaon is quite big, about 51 kilometers (32 miles) wide. It was found on September 10, 1988, by an American astronomer named Carolyn Shoemaker. She discovered it at the Palomar Observatory in California. Lykaon is one of the 100 biggest Jupiter trojans. It spins slowly, taking about 40 hours to complete one turn. This asteroid is named after Lycaon, a prince from ancient Greek stories.

Lykaon's Orbit Around the Sun

Lykaon is a dark asteroid that travels with Jupiter. It has a special 1:1 orbital resonance with Jupiter. This means that for every trip Jupiter makes around the Sun, Lykaon also makes one trip.

It is located in the "Trojan camp" at Jupiter's L5 Lagrangian point. This point is 60 degrees behind Jupiter in its orbit. You can think of it as Lykaon always following Jupiter at a safe distance.

This asteroid is not part of a specific Asteroid family. Instead, it belongs to the general group of "Jovian background asteroids."

Lykaon orbits the Sun at a distance of 4.8 to 5.7 AU. One AU is the distance from the Earth to the Sun. It takes Lykaon about 12 years and 1 month to complete one full orbit. Its path is slightly oval-shaped, which is called its eccentricity. Its orbit is also tilted by about 9 degrees compared to Earth's orbit.

What Lykaon is Made Of

In a system called the SDSS-based taxonomy, Lykaon is classified as a dark D-type asteroid. This type of asteroid is very common among the larger Jupiter trojans.

It has a typical V–I color index of 0.96. This measurement helps scientists understand the color and surface properties of the asteroid.

How Lykaon Rotates

In April 1996, an Italian astronomer named Stefano Mottola studied Lykaon. He used a telescope in Chile to watch how its brightness changed over six nights.

By studying these changes, he figured out that Lykaon takes about 40.09 hours to spin around once. This is its rotation period. The asteroid's brightness changed by 0.43 magnitude.

A large change in brightness usually means the asteroid is not perfectly round. Even though 40 hours is a long time, Lykaon is not considered a "slow rotator." However, it does have one of the longest rotation periods among the bigger Jupiter trojans.

Lykaon's Size and Surface

Scientists have used different methods to measure Lykaon. According to NASA's NEOWISE mission, Lykaon is about 50.87 kilometers (31.6 miles) across. Its surface is quite dark, with an albedo of 0.068. Albedo tells us how much light an object reflects. A lower number means it's darker.

Another group, the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link, estimates Lykaon's diameter to be 53.16 kilometers (33 miles). They base this on an assumed albedo of 0.057, which is typical for a carbonaceous asteroid.

How Lykaon Got Its Name

This minor planet was named by the person who discovered it, Carolyn Shoemaker. She chose the name from Greek mythology.

Lycaon was a prince of Troy, one of the many sons of King Priam. In the story, he was captured by the hero Achilles and sold as a slave. Later, Lycaon returned to the Trojan War. Sadly, he was killed by Achilles near the River Scamander.

The official naming of the asteroid was announced on June 27, 1991.