6090 Aulis, provisional designation: 1989 DJ, is a Jupiter trojan from the Greek camp, approximately 70 kilometers (43 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 27 February 1989, by Belgian astronomer Henri Debehogne at ESO's La Silla Observatory in northern Chile.^[1] The dark Jovian asteroid belongs to the 50 largest Jupiter trojans and has a rotation period of 18.5 hours.^[10] It was named for the ancient Greek port Aulis, mentioned in the Iliad.^[2]

Orbit and classification

Aulis is a dark Jovian asteroid orbiting in the leading Greek camp at Jupiter's L₄ Lagrangian point, 60° ahead of the Gas Giant's orbit in a 1:1 resonance (see Trojans in astronomy). It is also a non-family asteroid in the Jovian background population.^[5]

It orbits the Sun at a distance of 5.0–5.6 AU once every 12 years and 3 months (4,470 days; semi-major axis of 5.31 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.06 and an inclination of 20° with respect to the ecliptic.^[3] The body's observation arc begins with a precovery taken at Palomar Observatory in March 1954, almost 35 years prior to its official discovery observation.^[1]

Numbering and naming

This minor planet was numbered on 19 September 1994 (M.P.C. 23964).^[11] On 14 May 2021, the object was named by the Working Group for Small Bodies Nomenclature (WGSBN) for the ancient Greek port Aulis, mentioned in the Iliad. In Greek mythology, it was the place where the Greek fleet gathered to set off for Troy and where King Agamemnon had sacrificed his daughter Iphigenia.^[2]

Physical characteristics

Aulis is an assumed C-type asteroid. Its V–I color index of 0.98 is typical for that of most Jovian D-types, the dominant spectral type among the larger Jupiter trojans.^[10]

References

External links

• Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB), query form (info Archived 16 December 2017 at the Wayback Machine)
• Discovery Circumstances: Numbered Minor Planets (5001)-(10000) – Minor Planet Center
• Asteroid (6090) 1989 DJ at the Small Bodies Data Ferret
• 6090 Aulis at AstDyS-2, Asteroids—Dynamic Site
  • Ephemeris · Observation prediction · Orbital info · Proper elements · Observational info
• 6090 Aulis at the JPL Small-Body Database
  • Close approach · Discovery · Ephemeris · Orbit viewer · Orbit parameters · Physical parameters