Published 14:58 IST, May 26th 2020
Astronomers discover trojan asteroid near Jupiter's orbit for the first time
Astronomers have detected a very kind of an object near Jupiter's orbit which appears to be a cross between an asteroid and a comet, according to the reports.
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Astronomers have detected an object near Jupiter's orbit which appears to be a cross between an asteroid and a comet. According to the reports, the Institute for Astronomy at the University of Hawaii's Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) has revealed that they have found a new asteroid with a comet-like tail orbiting in the same path used by Jupiter to revolve around the sun. As per the reports, these objects are known as active asteroids. These objects appear to be asteroids at first and then develop activity such as tails which looks quite similar to comets. According to the reports, they are generally known as Trojan asteroids and it is the first one of its kind to be seen with a comet-like-tail.
Trojan asteroid spotted
Trojan asteroid was reportedly first spotted in June 2019 and dubbed as 2019 LD2. These asteroids take the same path as a planet, but remain 60 degrees ahead of or behind along the orbit. As per the reports, planets such as Earth, Neptune and Jupiter do have more than one Trojan asteroids. According to the reports, the scientists have found that the Jupiter Trojan asteroids revolve around the sun in two large swarms, which includes one behind the planet and another one ahead of the planet.
Third exoplanet orbits Kepler-88
Meanwhile, a new discovery has been made by a team of astronomers at the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy where they found that a previously undetected third exoplanet orbits Kepler-88. Kepler-88 is a star that is similar to the sun of our solar system and was discovered in the year 2013. However, Kepler-88 is a star in the constellation of Lyra and its 3rd exoplanet has been found after Kepler-88 B and Kepler-88 C. Read on to know more about it.
The research was led by author Lauren Weiss, a Beatrice Watson Parrent Postdoctoral Fellow at UH ifA, and her team. The research found out that Kepler-88 D has a mass three times the mass of Jupiter. It has also been found that Kepler-88 D has been more influential in the history of Kepler-88 system.
Image Credit: Pixabay
14:58 IST, May 26th 2020