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 "slug": "16560-daitor",
 "title": "16560 Daitor",
 "updated": "2026-10-25",
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 "excerpt": "16560 Daitor (1991 VZ5) is a large Jupiter Trojan asteroid about 44 km across at the L5 Lagrange point, discovered 2 November 1991 by Eric Elst at La Silla, named after a Trojan warrior killed by Teucer.",
 "snippet": "16560 Daitor (1991 VZ5) is a large Jupiter Trojan asteroid about 44 km across at the L5 Lagrange point, discovered 2 November 1991 by Eric Elst at La Silla, named after a Trojan warrior killed by Teucer.",
 "node": "places.extraterrestrial.small-bodies.asteroids-trojans-and-outer-groups.trojan-camp-jupiter-trojans",
 "markdown": "# 16560 Daitor\n\n**16560 Daitor** (provisional designation 1991 VZ5) is a large Jupiter Trojan asteroid, approximately 44 kilometers (27 miles) in diameter, that shares Jupiter's orbit in a 1:1 resonance from the L5 Lagrange point, 60 degrees behind the planet.\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Discovery | 2 November 1991 by E. W. Elst at La Silla Observatory, Chile<sup>[5](http://www.minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?commit=Show&object_id=16560)</sup> |\n| Orbit | Semi-major axis 5.0618 au, eccentricity 0.041, inclination 15.30°, period 11.39 years<sup>[1](https://planety.astro.cz/planetka-16560)</sup> |\n\n## Orbit and classification\n\nDaitor is a Jovian asteroid in the [Trojan](https://www.edgepedia.org/trojan-celestial-body) camp, located at the L5 Lagrangian point of Jupiter's orbit. The [Minor Planet Center](https://www.edgepedia.org/minor-planet-center) defines a Jupiter Trojan as an object with a semi-major axis between 4.8 and 5.4 au and an eccentricity below 0.3, and Daitor fits this class with a measured semi-major axis of 5.0618 au and eccentricity of 0.041.<sup>[1](https://planety.astro.cz/planetka-16560)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[2](https://docs.minorplanetcenter.net/mpc-ops-docs/orbits/orbit-types/)</sup> Its orbital inclination of 15.30 degrees is moderately high for a Trojan, and its [Tisserand parameter](https://www.edgepedia.org/tisserand-parameter) with respect to Jupiter, a value used to distinguish asteroids from cometary orbits, is 2.9.<sup>[1](https://planety.astro.cz/planetka-16560)</sup>\n\nThe orbit is well constrained. The Lucky Star project's orbit solution, based on 3,335 observations, lists a first observation on 23 October 1955, decades before the discovery date, meaning the asteroid was recovered on precovery images from old photographic plates.<sup>[3](https://www.lesia.obspm.fr/lucky-star/obj.php?p=1460)</sup> The Czech asteroid database Planety reports 3,596 observations across 29 oppositions spanning 1955 to 2026.<sup>[1](https://planety.astro.cz/planetka-16560)</sup> Daitor's closest approach to Earth is predicted for 27 June 2044 at a distance of 3.84 au, when it will also be at its brightest from Earth at magnitude 17.1.<sup>[1](https://planety.astro.cz/planetka-16560)</sup>\n\n## Physical properties\n\nInfrared surveys give consistent size estimates.\n\nIts absolute magnitude is reported between 10.6 and 10.9 depending on the source, and its rotation period is not well determined, which is common for Trojans observed only in sparse photometry.<sup>[1](https://planety.astro.cz/planetka-16560)</sup>\n\n## Discovery and naming\n\nEric Walter Elst, a prolific Belgian asteroid discoverer, found Daitor on 2 November 1991 at La Silla, which has an IAU observatory code of 809 in some records and 70409 in the Minor Planet Center's site numbering used by the Czech database.<sup>[1](https://planety.astro.cz/planetka-16560)</sup>\n\n## Context among the Trojans\n\nJupiter has nearly 8,000 known co-orbital asteroids in the L4 and L5 Lagrange points, and studies of their physical properties, such as a 2021 analysis of ATLAS survey photometry of 863 L4 and 380 L5 Trojans, show the two clouds differ in shape distribution, with L4 asteroids on average more elongated, likely because the larger L4 population experiences a greater collision rate.<sup>[4](https://arxiv.org/abs/2101.04602)</sup> Daitor belongs to the smaller L5 cloud, whose members share Jupiter's orbital period of about 11.4 years while librating around the stable point 60 degrees behind the planet.<sup>[1](https://planety.astro.cz/planetka-16560)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[4](https://arxiv.org/abs/2101.04602)</sup>\n\n## References\n\n1. [Planetka Daitor (16560), Planety.cz](https://planety.astro.cz/planetka-16560)\n2. [Orbit Type Definition, MPC Public Documentation Hub](https://docs.minorplanetcenter.net/mpc-ops-docs/orbits/orbit-types/)\n3. [(16560) Daitor, Lucky Star project, LESIA, Paris Observatory](https://www.lesia.obspm.fr/lucky-star/obj.php?p=1460)\n4. [McNeill et al. (2021), Comparison of the physical properties of the L4 and L5 Trojan asteroids from ATLAS data, arXiv](https://arxiv.org/abs/2101.04602)\n5. [IAU Minor Planet Center, minorplanetcenter.net](http://www.minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?commit=Show&object_id=16560)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Places and geography › Extraterrestrial places › Small bodies of the Solar System › Jupiter Trojans and other dynamical groups › Trojan-camp Jupiter Trojans*\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",
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 "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/16560-daitor.md",
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 "credit": "\"16560 Daitor\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/16560-daitor. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.",
 "credit_md": "\"[16560 Daitor](https://www.edgepedia.org/16560-daitor)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/16560-daitor](https://www.edgepedia.org/16560-daitor). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).",
 "credit_html": "\"<a href=\"https://www.edgepedia.org/16560-daitor\">16560 Daitor</a>\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), <a href=\"https://www.edgepedia.org/16560-daitor\">https://www.edgepedia.org/16560-daitor</a>. <a href=\"https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\">Edgepedia Community License 1.0</a>.",
 "speakable": "16560 Daitor is a large Jupiter Trojan asteroid about 44 km across at the L5 Lagrange point, discovered 2 November 1991 by Eric Elst at La Silla, named after a Trojan warrior killed by Teucer."
}