{ "id": "epb8xh9qdt", "slug": "4489-dracius", "title": "4489 Dracius", "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.leaders-of-the-achaean-forces", "label": "Leaders of the Achaean forces", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/places.extraterrestrial.small-bodies.asteroids-trojans-and-outer-groups.greek-camp-jupiter-trojans.leaders-of-the-achaean-forces" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.nongeo.nodate.places.extraterrestrial.small-bodies.asteroids-trojans-and-outer-groups.greek-camp-jupiter-trojans.leaders-of-the-achaean-forces", "label": "Non-geographic · Not dated: Leaders of the Achaean forces", "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.leaders-of-the-achaean-forces", "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" }, { "id": "geo.nongeo.nodate.places.extraterrestrial.small-bodies.asteroids-trojans-and-outer-groups.greek-camp-jupiter-trojans.leaders-of-the-achaean-forces", "label": "Leaders of the Achaean forces", "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.leaders-of-the-achaean-forces" } ] } ], "excerpt": "4489 Dracius, provisionally designated 1988 AK, is a dark Jupiter Trojan asteroid 77 to 95 kilometers wide, discovered by Edward Bowell at Lowell Observatory in 1988.", "snippet": "4489 Dracius, provisionally designated 1988 AK, is a dark Jupiter Trojan asteroid 77 to 95 kilometers wide, discovered by Edward Bowell at Lowell Observatory in 1988.", "node": "places.extraterrestrial.small-bodies.asteroids-trojans-and-outer-groups.greek-camp-jupiter-trojans.leaders-of-the-achaean-forces", "markdown": "# 4489 Dracius\n\n**4489 Dracius** (provisional designation 1988 AK) is a large Jupiter Trojan asteroid, a dark D-type body roughly 77 to 95 kilometers in diameter that shares Jupiter's orbit around the Sun. It was discovered on 15 January 1988 by the American astronomer Edward Bowell at the Anderson Mesa Station of the [Lowell Observatory](https://www.edgepedia.org/lowell-observatory) near [Flagstaff, Arizona](https://www.edgepedia.org/flagstaff-arizona), and was named in May 2021 after Dracius, a commander of the Epeans who fought against Hector in [Greek mythology](https://www.edgepedia.org/greek-mythology).[1](https://planety.astro.cz/planetka-4489)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Class | Jupiter Trojan from the Greek camp; not a Near Earth Object or Potentially Hazardous Object[2](https://www.spacereference.org/asteroid/4489-dracius-1988-ak) |\n| Discovery | 15 January 1988, by Edward Bowell at Anderson Mesa Station, Lowell Observatory[1](https://planety.astro.cz/planetka-4489) |\n| Orbit | Period 4,320 days (11.83 years); semi-major axis 5.188 AU; inclination 22.25 degrees[2](https://www.spacereference.org/asteroid/4489-dracius-1988-ak) |\n| Naming | Named in May 2021 after Dracius of Greek mythology[6](https://wgsbn-iau.org/files/Bulletins/V001/WGSBNBull_V001_001.pdf) |\n\n## Discovery and naming\n\nEdward Bowell recorded the object on 15 January 1988 at Anderson Mesa, and it received the provisional designation 1988 AK before being assigned the catalog number 4489.[1](https://planety.astro.cz/planetka-4489) For years it remained nameless: before its naming it belonged to a small group of only 8 unnamed minor planets with numbers smaller than 5000, all of them [Jupiter Trojans](https://www.edgepedia.org/jupiter-trojans) or near-Earth asteroids. Several members of that group, including [3708 Socus](https://www.edgepedia.org/3708-socus), 4035 Thestor, [4715 Medesicaste](https://www.edgepedia.org/4715-medesicaste), and Dracius itself, were named in May 2021 by the Working Group for Small Bodies Nomenclature.[6](https://wgsbn-iau.org/files/Bulletins/V001/WGSBNBull_V001_001.pdf)\n\n## Orbit\n\nDracius is a Jupiter Trojan, one of the asteroids that librate around Jupiter's stable L4 and L5 Lagrange points, 60 degrees ahead of and behind the planet, in a 1:1 mean motion resonance with it.[3](https://arxiv.org/abs/2312.02864) The asteroid takes 4,320 days, roughly 11.83 years, to circle the Sun once; its distance from the Sun ranges from a minimum of 4.87 AU to a maximum of 5.51 AU, and its orbit has a semi-major axis of 5.188 AU with an inclination of 22.25 degrees.[2](https://www.spacereference.org/asteroid/4489-dracius-1988-ak) A Czech astronomical database, using a later epoch, lists a semi-major axis of 5.1673 AU, an eccentricity of 0.0578, and an inclination of 22.2697 degrees, with an orbital period of 11.746 years.[1](https://planety.astro.cz/planetka-4489)\n\nThe orbit is well determined. Observations used for its orbit solution date back to 17 May 1980, and the [Minor Planet Center](https://www.edgepedia.org/minor-planet-center) records 3,040 observations used to determine it.[2](https://www.spacereference.org/asteroid/4489-dracius-1988-ak) The Czech database, updated to 2026, lists 4,826 observations across 32 oppositions spanning 1980 to 2026.[1](https://planety.astro.cz/planetka-4489)\n\nBecause the orbit stays far from Earth's, Dracius is not classified as a Near Earth Object or a Potentially Hazardous Object. Its orbit passes 3.89 AU from [Earth's orbit](https://www.edgepedia.org/earths-orbit) at the closest point, and orbital simulations by NASA JPL's CNEOS show no close approaches to Earth.[2](https://www.spacereference.org/asteroid/4489-dracius-1988-ak) The same simulations rule it out as a target for human exploration in the NHATS study.[2](https://www.spacereference.org/asteroid/4489-dracius-1988-ak)\n\n## Physical characteristics\n\n**Rotation.** Rotation.\n\n## Occultations\n\nStellar occultations, in which the asteroid briefly blocks the light of a background star, have been used to observe it. On 6 November 2023 UT, the asteroid occulted a 10.6-magnitude star in the constellation Taurus along a path across northern Australia, from Cooktown across northern [Queensland](https://www.edgepedia.org/queensland) and the northern [Northern Territory](https://www.edgepedia.org/northern-territory) south of Darwin at low elevation; the Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand's prediction for that event used a diameter of 84.1 km.[4](https://www.occultations.org.nz/planet/2023/updates/231106_4489_82504_u.htm) A coordinated observation of an occultation of UCAC4 546-017448 on 7 November 2023 recorded positive detections in Spain and France, with reported chord lengths of 70.8 and 108.6 km.[5](https://astro.kretlow.de/cora/events/sodis/2023-11-07/UCAC4%20546-017448/%284489%29%20Dracius/)\n\n## References\n\n1. [Planetka Dracius (4489), Planety.cz](https://planety.astro.cz/planetka-4489)\n2. [Asteroid Dracius (4489), Space Reference](https://www.spacereference.org/asteroid/4489-dracius-1988-ak)\n3. [Origin and Evolution of Jupiter's Trojan Asteroids, arXiv:2312.02864](https://arxiv.org/abs/2312.02864)\n4. [RASNZ Occultation Section: Dracius Occultation Update, 2023 Nov 06](https://www.occultations.org.nz/planet/2023/updates/231106_4489_82504_u.htm)\n5. [Cora Collaborative Occultation Resources: 2023-11-07, UCAC4 546-017448, (4489) Dracius](https://astro.kretlow.de/cora/events/sodis/2023-11-07/UCAC4%20546-017448/%284489%29%20Dracius/)\n6. [WGSBN Bulletin Volume 1, #1, International Astronomical Union](https://wgsbn-iau.org/files/Bulletins/V001/WGSBNBull_V001_001.pdf)\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 › Leaders of the Achaean forces*\n\n*Initially written Oct 20, 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/4489-dracius", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/4489-dracius.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": "\"4489 Dracius\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/4489-dracius. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[4489 Dracius](https://www.edgepedia.org/4489-dracius)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/4489-dracius](https://www.edgepedia.org/4489-dracius). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"4489 Dracius\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/4489-dracius. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "4489 Dracius, provisionally designated 1988 AK, is a dark Jupiter Trojan asteroid 77 to 95 kilometers wide, discovered by Edward Bowell at Lowell Observatory in 1988." }