Planetary embryo in the context of Clearing the neighbourhood

⭐ Core Definition: Planetary embryo

A protoplanet or planetary embryo is an astronomical body originated within a protoplanetary disk that has undergone internal melting to produce a differentiated interior.

Protoplanets are thought to form out of kilometer-sized planetesimals that gravitationally perturb each other's orbits and collide, gradually coalescing into larger bodies through a process known as "runaway growth". Once accumulated enough mass, protoplanets will begin to assume a spherical shape due to hydrostatic equilibrium and become dwarf planets, those of which that subsequently succeed in dominating their own orbit will become planets proper.

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Planetary embryo in the context of Mars trojan

The Mars trojans are a group of trojan objects that share the orbit of the planet Mars around the Sun. They can be found around the two Lagrangian points 60° ahead of and behind Mars. The origin of the Mars trojans is not well understood. One hypothesis suggests that they were primordial objects left over from the formation of Mars that were captured in its Lagrangian points as the Solar System was forming. However, spectral studies of the Mars trojans indicate this may not be the case. Another explanation involves asteroids chaotically wandering into the Mars Lagrangian points later in the Solar System's formation. This is also questionable considering the short dynamical lifetimes of these objects. The spectra of Eureka and two other Mars trojans indicates an olivine-rich composition. Since olivine-rich objects are rare in the asteroid belt it has been suggested that some of the Mars trojans are captured debris from a large orbit-altering impact on Mars when it encountered a planetary embryo.

Presently, this group contains 17 asteroids confirmed to be stable Mars trojans by long-term numerical simulations but only nine of them are accepted by the Minor Planet Center.

View the full Wikipedia page for Mars trojan

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