For the first time, scientists have found a comet near a population of asteroids orbiting Jupiter around the Sun.
Why it matters: It is possible that scientists, according to NASA, have found a “pit stop” that could take other comets on their way to the inner solar system.
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The whole picture: The comet – named P / 2019 LD2 – is not far from a population of asteroids near Jupiter, known as Trojans, discovered, the new study that found the finding in the Astronomical Journal say.
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The comet may have originally been kicked out of the Kuiper belt outside Neptune before orbiting the Sun near the outer, gaseous planets.
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About two years ago, the comet flew near Jupiter, which apparently pushed the object to the Trojans, where it was found today.
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“The coolest thing is that you actually catch Jupiter throwing this object around and changing its orbital behavior and bringing it into the inner system,” Carey Lisse, one of the study’s authors, said in a statement. “Jupiter controls what goes on with comets as soon as they end up in the inner system by changing their orbits.”
What’s next: Scientists believe Jupiter is likely to lag behind in two years, according to computer simulations.
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The comet is expected to interact with Jupiter again and then proceed to the inner solar system.
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“Simulations show that within about 500,000 years there is a 90% probability that this object will become out of the solar system and become an interstellar comet,” Lisse said.
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