14 DAY TRIAL // Astronomers have discovered the existence of a “Trojan asteroid” near Uranus, the first ever seen near the planet.
Dubbed “Trojans,” these are objects that share their orbit with a planet, but do not collide with it. These are usually seen around several planets in our solar system, including Earth, but never as far as Uranus.
The newly found asteroid was given the official tag 2011 QF99 and it was presented in the newest issue of the journal “Science,” published this Friday.
Up until now astronomers have considered Trojans couldn’t be found near Uranus since the gravitational pull of larger planets nearby would eventually eject any such object.
The search conducted by astronomers sought Neptunian Trojans and trans-Neptunian objects, so they were surprised to find one close to Uranus.
2011 QF00 is a ball or rock and ice, with a 36 miles (60 kilometers) width and a composition closer to that of a comet.