617 Patroclus is the second Jovian Trojan asteroid to be discovered. It was discovered in 1907 by August Kopff. August Kopff (February 5, 1882 – April 25, 1960) was a German astronomer who discovered several comets and asteroids. ... October 17 is the 290th (in leap years the 291st) day of the year according to the Gregorian calendar. ... 1906 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... The provisional designation of comets and asteroids are similar to each other: they both follow a pattern set in 1925 by the Minor Planet Center of the IAU. Historical designations At first, astronomers strove to assign symbols to the minor planets: 1 Ceres a stylized sickle 2 Pallas a lozenge... Minor planets, or planetoids are minor bodies of the Solar system orbiting the Sun (or of other planetary systems orbiting other stars) that are larger than meteoroids (the largest of which might be taken to be around 10 meters or so across) but smaller than major planets (Mercury having a... Image of the Trojan asteroids in front of and behind Jupiter along its orbital path. ... In astronomy, an epoch is a moment in time for which celestial coordinates or orbital elements are specified. ... In astrodynamics, under standard assumptions any orbit must be of conic section shape. ... In geometry, the semi-major axis (also semimajor axis) a applies to ellipses and hyperbolas. ... The astronomical unit (AU or au or a. ... This article is about several astronomical terms (apogee & perigee, aphelion & perihelion, generic equivalents based on apsis, and related but rarer terms. ... This article is about several astronomical terms (apogee & perigee, aphelion & perihelion, generic equivalents based on apsis, and related but rarer terms. ... The orbital period is the time it takes a planet (or another object) to make one full orbit. ... A day (symbol: d) is a unit of time. ... A Julian year is the length of an average year in the Julian calendar, 365. ... The orbital speed of a body, generally a planet, a natural satellite, an artificial satellite, or a multiple star, is the speed at which it orbits around the barycenter of a system, usually around a more massive body. ... Inclination is one of the six orbital parameters describing the shape and orientation of a celestial orbit and is the angular distance of the orbital plane from the plane of the reference (usually planets equator or the ecliptic), stated in degrees. ... A degree (or in full a degree of arc), usually symbolized °, is a measurement of plane angle, representing 1/360 of a full rotation. ... The Longitude of the ascending node () is one of the orbital elements used to specify the orbit of an object in space. ... The argument of the perihelion is one of the orbital elements describing the orbit of a planet. ... In the study of orbital dynamics the mean anomaly is a measure of time, specific to the orbiting body p, which is a multiple of 2π radians at and only at periapsis. ... Mass is a property of physical objects that, roughly speaking, measures the amount of matter they contain. ... The international prototype, made of platinum-iridium, which is kept at the BIPM under conditions specified by the 1st CGPM in 1889. ... Density (symbol: ρ - Greek: rho) is a measure of mass per unit of volume. ... A cubic centimetre (cm3) is an SI derived unit of volume, equal to the volume of a cube with side length of 1 centi metre. ... It has been suggested that Law of universal gravitation be merged into this article or section. ... In physics, for a given gravitational field and a given position, the escape velocity is the minimum speed an object without propulsion, at that position, needs to have to move away indefinitely from the source of the field, as opposed to falling back or staying in an orbit within a... In astronomy, a rotation period is the time an astronomical object takes to complete one revolution around its rotation axis. ... Asteroids are assigned a type based on spectral shape, color, and sometimes albedo. ... In astronomy, absolute magnitude is the apparent magnitude, m, an object would have if it were at a standardized distance away. ... The albedo is a measure of reflectivity of a surface or body. ... Temperature is the physical property of a system which underlies the common notions of hot and cold; the material with the higher temperature is said to be hotter. ... Atmospheric characteristics Atmospheric pressure 70 kPa Hydrogen ~86% Helium ~14% Methane 0. ... Image of the Trojan asteroids in front of and behind Jupiter along its orbital path. ... 1907 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... August Kopff (February 5, 1882 – April 25, 1960) was a German astronomer who discovered several comets and asteroids. ...

Patroclus lies in Jupiter's trailing Lagrangian point, L₅, called the 'Trojan' node after one of the two sides in the legendary Trojan War. It is the only asteroid in the Trojan camp to be named after a Greek character because the naming conventions for the Trojan asteroids were not adopted until after Patroclus was named. Similarly the asteroid Hektor is the only Trojan character in the Greek camp. The Lagrangian points (IPA: ; also Lagrange point, L-point, or libration point), are the five positions in space where a small object can be stationary with respect to two larger objects (such as a satellite with respect to the Earth and Moon). ... The Trojan War was a war waged, according to legend, against the city of Troy in Asia Minor by the armies of the Acheans, following the kidnapping (or elopement) of Helen of Sparta by Paris of Troy. ... 624 Hektor is the largest of the Jovian Trojan asteroids. ...

In 2001 it was discovered that Patroclus is actually a binary asteroid. The larger component retains the name Patroclus while the smaller is known as S/2001 (617) 1. 2001: A Space Odyssey. ... The term binary asteroid refers to a system in which two asteroids orbit their common centre of gravity, in analogy with binary stars. ...