Co-orbital objects in the main asteroid belt

We have investigated the possibility of main belt asteroids being trapped in the 1:1 resonance with other asteroids. Using contemporary mass estimates for the large asteroids (1) Ceres, (2) Pallas and (4) Vesta, it is found that four asteroids are temporarily trapped in such resonances with Ceres and Vesta during numerical integrations spanning 2 x 10⁶ yr. In particular, the asteroid (1372) Haremari is likely to be co-orbiting with Ceres at the present time. The corresponding libration period is found to be <~ 10⁵ yr. The implications of our results for the general dynamical evolution of minor bodies and these asteroids in particular is discussed.