Our solar system s centaurs Are half-asteroid, half-comet astronomy.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from astronomy.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
For the first time ever, a comet has been witnessed near Jupiter’s ancient asteroids called Trojans that orbit the sun along with the Gas Giant. The young object, which has been named P/2019 LD2 (or LD2), belongs to a group of icy bodies called Centaurs that are located between Jupiter and Neptune. When Centaurs get closer to the sun, they heat up and become more like a comet.
LD2 is thought to be part of the “bucket brigade” of comets that have been kicked out of the Kuiper Belt by collisions with other objects and sent flying towards Jupiter.
NASA s Hubble spots comet with 400,000mile long tail lingering near Jupiter asteroids msn.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from msn.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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IMAGE: Astronomers found a roaming comet taking a rest stop before possibly continuing its journey. The wayward object made a temporary stop near giant Jupiter. The icy visitor has plenty of. view more
Credit: Credits: NASA, ESA, and B. Bolin (Caltech)
After traveling several billion miles toward the Sun, a wayward young comet-like object orbiting among the giant planets has found a temporary parking place along the way. The object has settled near a family of captured ancient asteroids, called Trojans, that are orbiting the Sun alongside Jupiter. This is the first time a comet-like object has been spotted near the Trojan population.