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Where are Neptuneās Trojan asteroids located in relation to its orbit?
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Neptune
A photograph of clouds in Neptune's atmosphere, taken by Voyager 2 in August 1989. The view is from below the planet's equator, and north is up. The Great Dark Spot (center left) is 13,000 km (8,100 miles)āabout the diameter of Earthāin its longer dimension. Accompanying it are bright, wispy clouds thought to comprise methane ice crystals. At higher southern latitudes lies a smaller, eye-shaped dark spot with a light core (bottom left). Just above that spot is a bright cloud dubbed Scooter. Each of these cloud features was seen to travel eastward but at a different rate, the Great Dark Spot moving the slowest.
Neptuneās Trojan asteroids are located near the planet's gravitationally stable Lagrangian points along its orbit. These points, designated L4 and L5, form the vertices of equilateral triangles with the Sun and Neptune, with L4 leading the planet by 60° and L5 trailing it by 60°.123
As of 2023, twenty-nine Neptune Trojans have been discovered, with the vast majority associated with the leading Lagrangian point, L4. Additionally, one object known as 2010 EN65 has been identified as a "jumping Trojan" currently passing through the L3 point, which is located on the opposite side of the Sun from Neptune, while in transit between L4 and L5.1