P/2019 LD2 (ATLAS)
P/2019 LD2 (ATLAS) imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope in April 2020 | |
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Alan Fitzsimmons David Young |
| Discovery site | ATLAS–MLO |
| Discovery date | 10 June 2019 |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Epoch | 31 March 2024 (JD 2460400.5) |
| Observation arc | 5.53 years |
| Earliest precovery date | 9 May 2018 |
| Number of observations | 748 |
| Aphelion | 5.860 AU |
| Perihelion | 4.537 AU |
| Semi-major axis | 5.199 AU |
| Eccentricity | 0.12724 |
| Orbital period | 11.854 years |
| Inclination | 11.606° |
| 179.43° | |
| Argument of periapsis | 118.24° |
| Mean anomaly | 124.96° |
| Last perihelion | 18 February 2020 |
| Next perihelion | 25 July 2028 |
| TJupiter | 2.942 |
| Earth MOID | 3.580 AU |
| Jupiter MOID | 0.052 AU |
| Physical characteristics | |
Mean diameter | <2.4 km (1.5 mi) |
| (V–R) = 0.51±0.09 | |
| Comet total magnitude (M1) | 7.0 |
| Comet nuclear magnitude (M2) | 12.2 |
| 19.0 | |
P/2019 LD2 (ATLAS) is a Jupiter-family comet and centaur discovered by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System on 10 June 2019. It was initially reported as the first known Jupiter trojan asteroid to display cometary activity, but its classification as a Jupiter trojan was retracted after closer examination and a longer observation arc revealed its orbit to be unstable like a typical Jupiter family comet and implied that its position near the trojans is temporary.