Opportunities for the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope to Find New L$_5$ Trojan and Hilda Lucy Encounter Targets

Abstract

The Trojan clouds contain a surprisingly diverse population of objects. It is only by understanding this diversity can we unravel their history. The more objects Lucy visits the better we can constrain the formation and evolution of the giant planets. While Lucy will visit four Trojans in the L$_4$ cloud, its trajectory only passes one known Trojan system, the PM binary, in L$_5$. There is ample time in the Lucy timeline to possibly add additional L$_5$ targets, thereby maximizing the mission's science return. In the next decade, the 8.4-m Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST), is expected to detect nearly 300,000 Jupiter Trojans between approximately 16 and 24.5 r-band magnitudes in the $\sim$18,000 deg$^2$ main survey and the expected $\sim$4,000 deg$^2$ northern ecliptic extension. We explore potential opportunities for LSST to find new Lucy L$_5$ fly-by targets.