(614689) 2020 XL5

(614689) 2020 XL5
Discovery[1][2]
Discovered byPan-STARRS 1
Discovery siteHaleakala Obs.
Discovery date12 December 2020
Designations
(614689) 2020 XL5
2020 XL5 · P11aRcq[3][4]
Earth trojan[5] · NEO
Apollo[6]
Orbital characteristics[6]
Epoch 21 January 2022 (JD 2459600.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc8.88 yr (3,243 days)
Earliest precovery date23 December 2012
Aphelion1.388 AU
Perihelion0.6133 AU
1.001 AU
Eccentricity0.38713
1.00 yr (365.7 d)
316.420°
0° 59m 4.269s / day
Inclination13.847°
153.598°
87.981°
Earth MOID0.07571 AU (11,326,000 km)
Venus MOID0.02726 AU (4,078,000 km)[2]
Physical characteristics
1.18±0.08 km[7]
0.06±0.03[7]
C[7]
20–23[2]
18.58+0.16
−0.15 (r-band)[7]

(614689) 2020 XL5 (provisional designation 2020 XL5) is a near-Earth asteroid and Earth trojan discovered by the Pan-STARRS 1 survey at Haleakala Observatory, Hawaii on 12 December 2020. It oscillates around the Sun–Earth L4 Lagrangian point (leading 60°), one of the dynamically stable locations where the combined gravitational force acts through the Sun's and Earth's barycenter. Analysis of 2020 XL5's trojan orbit stability suggests it will remain around Earth's L4 point for at least four thousand years until gravitational perturbations from repeated close encounters with Venus destabilize its trojan configuration. With a diameter about 1.2 km (0.75 mi), 2020 XL5 is the second Earth trojan discovered, after 2010 TK7,[7][8] and is the largest of its kind known.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference MPEC-2020-X171 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference MPC-object was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference NEO-Exchange was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference PseudoMPEC was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Hecht2021 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference jpldata was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ a b c d e Cite error: The named reference Santana-Ros2022 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Chang, Kenneth (2 February 2022). "Astronomers Find a New Asteroid Sharing Earth's Orbit - The Trojan asteroid 2020 XL5, which follows the same path around the sun as our planet, was revealed only after a decade of searching". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 February 2022.