Second Earth Trojan Asteroid Found: 2020 XL5
takyon writes:
Earth has a second known 'Trojan asteroid' that shares its orbit
A recently found space rock is schlepping along with Earth around the sun. This "Trojan asteroid" is only the second one discovered that belongs to our planet. And it's probably a visitor.
Trojan asteroids, which are also found accompanying Mars, Jupiter and Neptune, hang out in two locations near a planet where the gravitational pulls of that planet and the sun balance each other (SN: 10/15/21). Because of this balancing act, these locations are stable spots in space. In 2010, astronomers discovered the first known Earth Trojan - called 2010 TK7 - orbiting within one of these two regions, known as L4, tens of millions of kilometers from Earth and leading our planet around the sun (SN: 8/2/11).
Now, researchers have found another one. Dubbed 2020 XL5, this roughly 1-kilometer-wide asteroid is also at L4, astronomer Toni Santana-Ros of the University of Barcelona and colleagues report February 1 in Nature Communications.
2020 XL5. 2010 TK7. Earth trojan.
Journal Reference:
T. Santana-Ros, M. Micheli, L. Faggioli, et al. Orbital stability analysis and photometric characterization of the second Earth Trojan asteroid 2020 XL5 [open], Nature Communications (DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-27988-4)
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