{ "id": "epmasbjqpp", "slug": "15913-telemachus", "title": "15913 Telemachus", "updated": "2026-10-25", "topic_path": [ { "id": "places", "label": "Places and geography", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/places" }, { "id": "places.extraterrestrial", "label": "Extraterrestrial places", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/places.extraterrestrial" }, { "id": "places.extraterrestrial.small-bodies", "label": "Small bodies of the Solar System", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/places.extraterrestrial.small-bodies" }, { "id": "places.extraterrestrial.small-bodies.asteroids-trojans-and-outer-groups", "label": "Jupiter Trojans and other dynamical groups", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/places.extraterrestrial.small-bodies.asteroids-trojans-and-outer-groups" }, { "id": "places.extraterrestrial.small-bodies.asteroids-trojans-and-outer-groups.greek-camp-jupiter-trojans", "label": "Greek-camp Jupiter Trojans", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/places.extraterrestrial.small-bodies.asteroids-trojans-and-outer-groups.greek-camp-jupiter-trojans" }, { "id": "places.extraterrestrial.small-bodies.asteroids-trojans-and-outer-groups.greek-camp-jupiter-trojans.heroes-of-the-odyssean-circle", "label": "Heroes of the Odyssean circle", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/places.extraterrestrial.small-bodies.asteroids-trojans-and-outer-groups.greek-camp-jupiter-trojans.heroes-of-the-odyssean-circle" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.nongeo.nodate.places.extraterrestrial.small-bodies.asteroids-trojans-and-outer-groups.greek-camp-jupiter-trojans", "label": "Non-geographic · Not dated: Greek-camp Jupiter Trojans", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.nongeo.nodate.places.extraterrestrial.small-bodies.asteroids-trojans-and-outer-groups.greek-camp-jupiter-trojans", "path": [ { "id": "geo.nongeo", "label": "Non-geographic", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.nongeo" }, { "id": "geo.nongeo.nodate", "label": "Non-geographic · Not dated", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.nongeo.nodate" }, { "id": "geo.nongeo.nodate.places", "label": "Places and geography", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.nongeo.nodate.places" }, { "id": "geo.nongeo.nodate.places.extraterrestrial", "label": "Extraterrestrial places", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.nongeo.nodate.places.extraterrestrial" }, { "id": "geo.nongeo.nodate.places.extraterrestrial.small-bodies", "label": "Small bodies of the Solar System", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.nongeo.nodate.places.extraterrestrial.small-bodies" }, { "id": "geo.nongeo.nodate.places.extraterrestrial.small-bodies.asteroids-trojans-and-outer-groups", "label": "Jupiter Trojans and other dynamical groups", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.nongeo.nodate.places.extraterrestrial.small-bodies.asteroids-trojans-and-outer-groups" }, { "id": "geo.nongeo.nodate.places.extraterrestrial.small-bodies.asteroids-trojans-and-outer-groups.greek-camp-jupiter-trojans", "label": "Greek-camp Jupiter Trojans", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.nongeo.nodate.places.extraterrestrial.small-bodies.asteroids-trojans-and-outer-groups.greek-camp-jupiter-trojans" } ] } ], "excerpt": "15913 Telemachus, provisional designation 1997 TZ27, is a Jupiter Trojan asteroid in the Greek camp, discovered at La Silla in 1997 and named for the son of Odysseus.", "snippet": "15913 Telemachus, provisional designation 1997 TZ27, is a Jupiter Trojan asteroid in the Greek camp, discovered at La Silla in 1997 and named for the son of Odysseus.", "node": "places.extraterrestrial.small-bodies.asteroids-trojans-and-outer-groups.greek-camp-jupiter-trojans.heroes-of-the-odyssean-circle", "markdown": "# 15913 Telemachus\n\n**15913 Telemachus** (provisional designation 1997 TZ27) is a Jupiter Trojan asteroid, a small body that shares Jupiter's orbit while librating (oscillating back and forth around a stable point) around one of the planet's stable [Lagrange points](https://www.edgepedia.org/lagrange-points). It was discovered on 1 October 1997 by the Uppsala-DLR Trojan Survey at the [La Silla Observatory](https://www.edgepedia.org/la-silla-observatory), and it belongs to the Greek camp at Jupiter's leading L4 point.[1](https://www.spacereference.org/asteroid/15913-telemachus-1997-tz27) It is named for [Telemachus](https://www.edgepedia.org/telemachus), the son of Odysseus in Greek mythology.\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Designation | 15913 Telemachus; provisional designation 1997 TZ27[1](https://www.spacereference.org/asteroid/15913-telemachus-1997-tz27) |\n| Discovery | 1 October 1997, Uppsala-DLR Trojan Survey, La Silla[9](https://asteroidname.com/asteroid/telemachus) |\n| Orbit class | Jupiter Trojan (TJN), Greek camp at the leading L4 point[2](https://ssd-api.jpl.nasa.gov/doc/sbdb_filter.html) |\n| Semimajor axis | 5.192 au[10](https://minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?object_id=15913) |\n| Mean orbital speed | 13.08 km/s[1](https://www.spacereference.org/asteroid/15913-telemachus-1997-tz27) |\n\n## Discovery\n\nThe asteroid was found on 1 October 1997 by the Uppsala-DLR Trojan Survey, a collaboration that used the [European Southern Observatory](https://www.edgepedia.org/european-southern-observatory)'s La Silla site in Chile to search for bodies in Jupiter's Trojan swarms.[10](https://minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?object_id=15913) On receiving a number, the object received the permanent designation 15913 and the name Telemachus; its provisional designation from the discovery apparition was 1997 TZ27.[1](https://www.spacereference.org/asteroid/15913-telemachus-1997-tz27)\n\n## Orbit and dynamical state\n\nIts mean orbital speed is 13.08 km/s, and its orbit passes no closer than 3.89 AU to [Earth's orbit](https://www.edgepedia.org/earths-orbit) at their closest points.[1](https://www.spacereference.org/asteroid/15913-telemachus-1997-tz27)\n\n**Greek camp membership.** Telemachus is listed among the Greek-camp Trojans, the swarm that travels 60° ahead of Jupiter at the L4 Lagrange point.[3](https://www.nasa.gov/missions/how-were-the-trojan-asteroids-discovered-and-named/) Bodies in this resonance stay fixed relative to Jupiter as both orbit the Sun, held in place where the combined gravity of Jupiter and the Sun creates a stable holding region.[4](https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/cosmic-detective-work-why-we-care-about-space-rocks/)\n\n## Name\n\nThe asteroid takes its name from Telemachus (Τηλέμαχος), the son of Odysseus in Homer's *Odyssey*.[5](https://www.behindthename.com/name/telemachus) The Greek name is a Latinized form of Telemachos, derived from a word meaning \"fighting from afar\", built on τῆλε (*tele*, \"afar, far off\") and μάχη (*mache*, \"battle\").[5](https://www.behindthename.com/name/telemachus)\n\nThe name follows the naming convention for Jupiter's Trojans. Astronomers named these asteroids after heroes of the [Trojan War](https://www.edgepedia.org/trojan-war) and eventually settled on a division in which Jupiter's L4 asteroids receive Greek characters and the L5 asteroids receive Trojan characters, making L4 and L5 the \"Greek camp\" and the \"Trojan camp\".[3](https://www.nasa.gov/missions/how-were-the-trojan-asteroids-discovered-and-named/) As an Odyssey figure on the Greek side, Telemachus fits the Greek-camp tradition.[5](https://www.behindthename.com/name/telemachus)\n\n## Physical properties\n\nLike the rest of the population, it orbits far from Earth, which is one reason the Trojans remain less well characterized physically than the main asteroid belt.[6](https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/499/3/3630/5918394)\n\n## A small member of a captured population\n\nTelemachus's orbit records where the Trojans as a population came from. The swarms librate around Jupiter's stable L4 and L5 Lagrange points, 60° ahead of and behind the planet, and their inclinations cover a fairly uniform range from 0° to 35° with a median of 10°; at 7.2°, Telemachus sits below that median.[7](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11214-023-01031-4) The Trojans' spectral and physical properties resemble those of small bodies in the outer solar system, such as irregular satellites and [Kuiper belt](https://www.edgepedia.org/kuiper-belt) objects, and the leading view is that they were captured from the primordial Kuiper belt during the giant planet instability rather than forming near Jupiter.[7](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11214-023-01031-4) Because most Trojans tens of kilometers across or larger are on stable orbits, bodies of Telemachus's size are presumed survivors of whatever process filled the swarms.[7](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11214-023-01031-4)\n\nNo spacecraft has visited Telemachus. NASA's Lucy mission, launched on October 16, 2021, is the first mission to the Trojans, flying by several members of both swarms over a 12-year journey, but its targets are other, larger members of the population.[8](https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/planets/jupiter/nasas-lucy-mission-a-journey-to-the-young-solar-system/)\n\n## References\n\n1. [Asteroid 15913 Telemachus (1997 TZ27), Space Reference](https://www.spacereference.org/asteroid/15913-telemachus-1997-tz27)\n2. [SBDB (filter): Available SBDB Orbit Classes, JPL Solar System Dynamics](https://ssd-api.jpl.nasa.gov/doc/sbdb_filter.html)\n3. [How Were the Trojan Asteroids Discovered and Named?, NASA](https://www.nasa.gov/missions/how-were-the-trojan-asteroids-discovered-and-named/)\n4. [Cosmic Detective Work: Why We Care About Space Rocks, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory](https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/cosmic-detective-work-why-we-care-about-space-rocks/)\n5. [Meaning, origin and history of the name Telemachus, Behind the Name](https://www.behindthename.com/name/telemachus)\n6. [Pair of Jovian Trojans at the L4 Lagrange point, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society](https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/499/3/3630/5918394)\n7. [Bottke, W. F. and colleagues (2023). Origin and Evolution of Jupiter's Trojan Asteroids. Space Science Reviews 219, 83.](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11214-023-01031-4)\n8. [NASA's Lucy Mission: A Journey to the Young Solar System, NASA Science](https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/planets/jupiter/nasas-lucy-mission-a-journey-to-the-young-solar-system/)\n9. [(15913) Telemachus – asteroid discovered 1997 | AsteroidName](https://asteroidname.com/asteroid/telemachus)\n10. [IAU Minor Planet Center, minorplanetcenter.net](https://minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?object_id=15913)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Places and geography › Extraterrestrial places › Small bodies of the Solar System › Jupiter Trojans and other dynamical groups › Greek-camp Jupiter Trojans › Heroes of the Odyssean circle*\n\n*Initially written Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/15913-telemachus", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/15913-telemachus.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"15913 Telemachus\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/15913-telemachus. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[15913 Telemachus](https://www.edgepedia.org/15913-telemachus)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/15913-telemachus](https://www.edgepedia.org/15913-telemachus). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"15913 Telemachus\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/15913-telemachus. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "15913 Telemachus, provisional designation 1997 TZ27, is a Jupiter Trojan asteroid in the Greek camp, discovered at La Silla in 1997 and named for the son of Odysseus." }