Comet P/2019 LD2 has orbital elements currently resembling those of a Jupiter Trojan, and therefore superficially appears to represent a unique opportunity to study the volatile content and active behavior of a member of this population for the first time. However, numerical integrations show that it was previously a Centaur before reaching its current Jupiter Trojan-like orbit in 2018 July, and is expected to return to being a Centaur in 2028 February, before eventually becoming a Jupiter-family comet in 2063 February. The case of P/2019 LD2 highlights the need for mechanisms to quickly and reliably dynamically classify small solar system bodies discovered in current and upcoming wide-field surveys.
@article{arxiv.2007.13945,
title = {The Transient Jupiter Trojan-Like Orbit of P/2019 LD2 (ATLAS)},
author = {Henry H. Hsieh and Alan Fitzsimmons and Bojan Novakovic and Larry Denneau and Aren N. Heinze},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2007.13945},
year = {2020}
}
Comments
7 pages, 3 figures. Accepted for publication in Icarus