Trojans in habitable zones
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Updated: Aug 15, 2026

Surface Mapping of Earth-like Exoplanets using Single Point Light Curves
Published on: May 10, 2020
Richard Schwarz1, Elke Pilat-Lohinger, Rudolf Dvorak
1Institute for Astronomy, University of Vienna, Türkenschanzstrasse 17, 1180 Vienna, Austria. schwarz@astro.univie.ac.at
Abstract:
With the aid of numerical experiments we examined the dynamical stability of fictitious terrestrial planets in 1:1 mean motion resonance with Jovian-like planets of extrasolar planetary systems. In our stability study of the so-called "Trojan" planets in the habitable zone, we used the restricted three-body problem with different mass ratios of the primary bodies. The application of the three-body problem showed that even massive Trojan planets can be stable in the 1:1 mean motion resonance. From the 117 extrasolar planetary systems only 11 systems were found with one giant planet in the habitable zone. Out of this sample set we chose four planetary systems--HD17051, HD27442, HD28185, and HD108874--for further investigation. To study the orbital behavior of the stable zone in the different systems, we used direct numerical computations (Lie Integration Method) that allowed us to determine the escape times and the maximum eccentricity of the fictitious "Trojan planets."
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