# 3708 Socus

**3708 Socus** is a [Jupiter trojan](https://www.edgepedia.org/jupiter-trojan), one of the asteroids trapped near Jupiter's L4 and L5 Lagrangian points, about 60° ahead of and behind the planet in its shared orbit around the Sun.<sup>[2](https://ssd-api.jpl.nasa.gov/doc/sbdb_filter.html)</sup> It appears as "3708 1974 FV1" in a 1991 survey of observed outer-belt and [Trojan](https://www.edgepedia.org/trojan-celestial-body) asteroids.<sup>[5](https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19930009960/downloads/19930009960.pdf)</sup> Because its orbit does not bring it close to Earth, JPL has not classified it as potentially hazardous.<sup>[1](https://www.spacereference.org/asteroid/3708-socus-1974-fv1)</sup>

| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Hazard status | Not classified as potentially hazardous by NASA JPL, because its orbit does not bring it close to Earth<sup>[1](https://www.spacereference.org/asteroid/3708-socus-1974-fv1)</sup> |

## Orbit and classification

Socus shares Jupiter's orbit around the Sun as one of the Jupiter trojans, the population of asteroids trapped near Jupiter's L\(_4\) and L\(_5\) Lagrangian points, which lie about 60° ahead of and behind the planet.<sup>[2](https://ssd-api.jpl.nasa.gov/doc/sbdb_filter.html)</sup> JPL's Small-Body Database defines the Jupiter Trojan orbit class as asteroids trapped in Jupiter's L4/L5 Lagrange points, with semi-major axes between 4.6 and 5.5 au and eccentricities below 0.3.<sup>[2](https://ssd-api.jpl.nasa.gov/doc/sbdb_filter.html)</sup> Because its orbit does not bring it close to Earth, JPL has not classified Socus as potentially hazardous.<sup>[1](https://www.spacereference.org/asteroid/3708-socus-1974-fv1)</sup>

## Physical properties

A low albedo near 0.05 is typical of the dark, carbon-rich surfaces of the large Jupiter trojans, for which thermal analysis of 476 Trojans found a mean V-band geometric albedo of 6.9 percent with only a small spread among the largest, well-measured objects.<sup>[3](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11214-024-01060-7)</sup>

Visible and near-infrared spectra of the brighter, larger Trojans are generally featureless with shallowly to steeply red slopes, comparable to C-, P-, and D-type asteroids as well as cometary nuclei.<sup>[4](https://nap.nationalacademies.org/resource/13117/App%20G%2016_Trojan_Tour_and_Rendezvous.pdf)</sup>

## Observation history

The object appears as "3708 1974 FV1" in a 1991 survey of observed outer-belt and Trojan asteroids, which compared the rotational periods and lightcurve amplitudes of Trojan asteroids with those of main-belt asteroids in the 40–150 km diameter range.<sup>[5](https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19930009960/downloads/19930009960.pdf)</sup> It also appears in a thermal-infrared survey table of Trojan albedos derived from beaming parameters and effective radii.<sup>[6](https://physics.ucf.edu/~yfernandez/papers/trojansurvey/trojanalbedos.pdf)</sup>

## Context among the Trojans

The Jupiter trojans are believed to have formed in the outer [Solar System](https://www.edgepedia.org/solar-system), where ices would be a major component, and to have been captured into their current orbits during the migration of the giant planets; one study of nine Trojan phase curves found the Trojans indistinguishable from outer Solar System bodies that have lost their surface ices, such as gray Centaurs and dead comets.<sup>[7](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0019103509004771)</sup> No spacecraft has yet visited any Trojan asteroid; NASA's Lucy mission, launched in October 2021, is the first mission to explore them, flying by eight Trojan asteroids that share Jupiter's orbit.<sup>[8](https://science.nasa.gov/mission/lucy/)</sup>

## References

1. [Asteroid Socus, Space Reference](https://www.spacereference.org/asteroid/3708-socus-1974-fv1)
2. [SBDB (filter): Available SBDB Orbit Classes, JPL](https://ssd-api.jpl.nasa.gov/doc/sbdb_filter.html)
3. [Surface Compositions of Trojan Asteroids, Space Science Reviews](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11214-024-01060-7)
4. [Trojan Tour and Rendezvous, National Academies](https://nap.nationalacademies.org/resource/13117/App%20G%2016_Trojan_Tour_and_Rendezvous.pdf)
5. [Asteroids, Comets, Meteors 1991, NASA NTRS](https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19930009960/downloads/19930009960.pdf)
6. [The Albedo Distribution of Jovian Trojan Asteroids, Fernandez et al.](https://physics.ucf.edu/~yfernandez/papers/trojansurvey/trojanalbedos.pdf)
7. [Phase curves of nine Trojan asteroids over a wide range of phase angles, Icarus](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0019103509004771)
8. [Lucy, NASA Science](https://science.nasa.gov/mission/lucy/)

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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Places and geography › Extraterrestrial places › Small bodies of the Solar System › Jupiter Trojans and other dynamical groups › Trojan-camp Jupiter Trojans*

*Initially written Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Oct 25, 2026*

*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*

License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license