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 "slug": "3708-socus",
 "title": "3708 Socus",
 "updated": "2026-10-25",
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 "excerpt": "3708 Socus is a Jupiter trojan asteroid that shares Jupiter's orbit near one of its L4 or L5 Lagrangian points and is not classified as potentially hazardous.",
 "snippet": "3708 Socus is a Jupiter trojan asteroid that shares Jupiter's orbit near one of its L4 or L5 Lagrangian points and is not classified as potentially hazardous.",
 "node": "places.extraterrestrial.small-bodies.asteroids-trojans-and-outer-groups.trojan-camp-jupiter-trojans",
 "markdown": "# 3708 Socus\n\n**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>\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| 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> |\n\n## Orbit and classification\n\nSocus 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>\n\n## Physical properties\n\nA 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>\n\nVisible 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>\n\n## Observation history\n\nThe 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>\n\n## Context among the Trojans\n\nThe 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>\n\n## References\n\n1. [Asteroid Socus, Space Reference](https://www.spacereference.org/asteroid/3708-socus-1974-fv1)\n2. [SBDB (filter): Available SBDB Orbit Classes, JPL](https://ssd-api.jpl.nasa.gov/doc/sbdb_filter.html)\n3. [Surface Compositions of Trojan Asteroids, Space Science Reviews](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11214-024-01060-7)\n4. [Trojan Tour and Rendezvous, National Academies](https://nap.nationalacademies.org/resource/13117/App%20G%2016_Trojan_Tour_and_Rendezvous.pdf)\n5. [Asteroids, Comets, Meteors 1991, NASA NTRS](https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19930009960/downloads/19930009960.pdf)\n6. [The Albedo Distribution of Jovian Trojan Asteroids, Fernandez et al.](https://physics.ucf.edu/~yfernandez/papers/trojansurvey/trojanalbedos.pdf)\n7. [Phase curves of nine Trojan asteroids over a wide range of phase angles, Icarus](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0019103509004771)\n8. [Lucy, NASA Science](https://science.nasa.gov/mission/lucy/)\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",
 "same_as": [
  "https://physics.ucf.edu/~yfernandez/papers/trojansurvey/trojanalbedos.pdf"
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 "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/3708-socus",
 "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/3708-socus.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.",
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 "credit": "\"3708 Socus\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/3708-socus. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.",
 "credit_md": "\"[3708 Socus](https://www.edgepedia.org/3708-socus)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/3708-socus](https://www.edgepedia.org/3708-socus). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).",
 "credit_html": "\"<a href=\"https://www.edgepedia.org/3708-socus\">3708 Socus</a>\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), <a href=\"https://www.edgepedia.org/3708-socus\">https://www.edgepedia.org/3708-socus</a>. <a href=\"https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\">Edgepedia Community License 1.0</a>.",
 "speakable": "3708 Socus is a Jupiter trojan asteroid that shares Jupiter's orbit near one of its L4 or L5 Lagrangian points and is not classified as potentially hazardous."
}