A team of international scientists has identified a Trojan asteroid in the same stable orbit as Earth, which will remain in place for at least 4000 years and is a good option for future fly-by missions.

The recently discovered 2020 XL5 asteroid has been confirmed as the second transient Earth Trojan asteroid to be spotted, according to a study published in Nature Communications. Researchers believe it will remain in orbit for at least 4,000 years.

Trojan asteroids are tiny bodies that share an orbit with a planet and maintain a stable orbit 60 degrees ahead of or behind the main body. Such unusual orbits impose significant limits on models of the Solar System’s evolution.

Although Trojan asteroids have been discovered orbiting other planets in the Solar System, only one Earth Trojan asteroid has been discovered thus far (called 2010 TK7).

2020 XL5 was detected on December 12, 2020, and early observations suggested it could be an Earth Trojan asteroid, but orbital uncertainties were too large for confirmation due to insufficient observational coverage.

Toni Santana-Ros and colleagues used archival data with observations from three ground-based observatories to study the orbit of 2020 XL5. They confirm that 2020 XL5 is an Earth Trojan asteroid based on these findings.

They believe it is a C-complex asteroid, meaning it is mostly made of carbon. According to the authors’ orbital stability estimate, 2020 XL5 will remain in its orbit for at least 4,000 years.

They speculate that the asteroid was ejected from the main asteroid belt after colliding with Jupiter, but more research is needed to clarify the asteroid’s origins.

2020 XL5 is a larger asteroid than 2010 TK7, according to the authors, and may be a better option for a future fly-by mission.

Source: 10.1038/s41467-022-27988-4

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