Which group of Jupiter trojans occupies the Sun-Jupiter L4 point?

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The Greek camp of Jupiter trojans occupies the Sun–Jupiter L4 point.

Jupiter trojans are asteroids that share Jupiter’s orbit around the Sun. They cluster near two gravitationally stable Lagrange regions: L4, about 60 degrees ahead of Jupiter in its orbit, and L5, about 60 degrees behind it. The L4 population is called the Greek camp, while the L5 population is called the Trojan camp.

This naming pattern comes from the Trojan War tradition used for many of the asteroids. Objects in the leading Greek camp generally receive names associated with Greek heroes, although the historical naming conventions are not perfectly uniform. The first discovered Jupiter trojan, 588 Achilles, is part of the Greek camp.

The L4 and L5 points are not empty stationary spots. Trojan asteroids librate—swing back and forth—around the points while orbiting the Sun. Jupiter’s large mass helps make these regions dynamically stable over very long timescales. The Hilda group and Cybele group are different asteroid populations, and “Trojan camp” specifically refers to the trailing L5 swarm.

Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Sept. 2026

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