The survey was carried out at the Uppsala Astronomical Observatory in Sweden, in collaboration with the German Aerospace Center (DLR).
Principal investigators were the astronomers Claes-Ingvar Lagerkvist, Gerhard Hahn, Stefano Mottola, Magnus Lundström and Uri Carsenty.
In fall of 1996, the ESO Schmidt telescope surveyed approximately 900 deg2 at Jupiter's L4 Lagrangian point, location of the so-called Greek camp.
It is thought that this tail is composed of dust, due to its consistent appearance, and the fact that it is pointing towards the Sun, not away from it.
They are named after figures from Greek mythology, typically after the heroes of the Trojan War as narrated in Homer's Iliad.