An Extremely Temporary Co-orbital: The Dynamical State of Active Centaur 2019 LD2

Abstract

Abstract We investigate the recent and future orbital evolution of the solar system small body 2019 LD2 (hereafter “LD2”), which was recently found to show cometary activity. While LD2's orbit initially looks similar to that of a Jupiter Trojan, numerical integrations show that it is only co-orbital with Jupiter for approximately a single orbit around the Sun. This would classify LD2 as an active Centaur, but we stress this object remains unique; within the next ∼40–50 years LD2 is likely to become a Jupiter Family Comet, offering an opportunity to observe this critical transition.