Asteroid dynamics inside Venus' orbit

Abstract

Asteroids Most asteroids reside in the main-belt region between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. A population of asteroids within the orbit of Venus has been hypothesized, but searching that region is difficult because it can only be observed just before sunrise or just after sunset. The first asteroid with an orbit entirely inside Venus' orbit, designated 2020 AV2, was discovered on 4 January 2020. Greenstreet used simulations to assess its orbital dynamics and found that the orbit is unstable: Within a million years, the asteroid will either collide with Venus or be scattered onto an Earth-crossing orbit. A nearby 3:2 resonance with Venus could extend the lifetime to a few million years. Mon. Not. R Astron. Soc. Lett. 2020 , slaa025 (2020).