6545 Leitus,provisional designation:1986 TR₆, is aJupiter trojan from theGreek camp, approximately 53 kilometers (33 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 5 October 1986, by Slovak astronomerMilan Antal at thePiwnice Astronomical Observatory in Poland.^[1] The darkD-type asteroid has arotation period of 16.3 hours and belongs to the90 largest Jupiter trojans.^[9]Numbered in 1995, it was named in 2021, after the ArgonautLeitus from Greek mythology, who fought in theTrojan War.^[13]

Leitus is a dark Jovianasteroid orbiting in the leading Greek camp at Jupiter'sL₄Lagrangian point, 60° ahead of the Gas Giant's orbit in a1:1 resonance(seeTrojans in astronomy).^[4] It is also a non-family asteroid in theJovian background population.^[5] It orbits the Sun at a distance of 4.9–5.4 AU once every 11 years and 8 months (4,265 days;semi-major axis of 5.15 AU). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.05 and aninclination of 12° with respect to theecliptic.^[3] The body'sobservation arc begins with its official discovery observation at Piwnice in October 1986.^[1]

Thisminor planet wasnumbered on 9 September 1995 (M.P.C. 25628).^[13] On 29 November 2021, IAU'sWorking Group for Small Bodies Nomenclaturenamed it after the ArgonautLeitus from Greek mythology. He was one of the sevenAchaean Leaders in front of whomPoseidon appeared during the Trojans' attack on the Achaean ships, urging them to fight back instead of acting like cowards. Wounded byHector, Leitus was one of the few to safely return home after theTrojan War.^[1][2]

In theSDSS-based taxonomy,Leitus is darkD-type asteroid,^[7][11] which agrees with the determinedspectral type byPan-STARRS.^[9][10] ItsV–I color index of 0.91 is typical for most larger Jupiter trojans(also see table below).^[9]

In March 2013, a rotationallightcurve ofLeitus was obtained fromphotometric observations byRobert Stephens at theCenter for Solar System Studies in Landers, California. Lightcurve analysis gave arotation period of16.26±0.01 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.31magnitude (U=2+).^[8][9][a]

According to the survey carried out by theNEOWISE mission of NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer and the Infrared Astronomical SatelliteIRAS,Leitus measures 50.95 and 56.96 kilometers in diameter and its surface has analbedo of 0.068 and 0.0545, respectively.^[6][7] TheCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for acarbonaceous asteroid of 0.057 and calculates a diameter of 53.16 kilometers based on anabsolute magnitude of 10.1.^[9]

• Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB), query form (infoArchived 16 December 2017 at theWayback Machine)
• Discovery Circumstances: Numbered Minor Planets (5001)-(10000) – Minor Planet Center
• 6545 Leitus atAstDyS-2, Asteroids—Dynamic Site
  • Ephemeris · Observation prediction · Orbital info · Proper elements · Observational info
• 6545 Leitus at theJPL Small-Body Database
  • Close approach · Discovery · Ephemeris · Orbit viewer · Orbit parameters · Physical parameters

• Minor planet object articles (numbered)
• Jupiter trojans (Greek camp)
• Named minor planets
• Discoveries by Milan Antal
• Astronomical objects discovered in 1986

• CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list
• Use dmy dates from November 2021
• Webarchive template wayback links