Very few asteroids share the orbit of Earth -- just two have been discovered to date -- and astronomers have recently confirmed the existence and size of one.
Parts of our solar system are rich with asteroids, like the Jupiter Trojans where thousands of asteroids share the orbit of Jupiter. Asteroids cluster here due to the gravitational interactions between Jupiter and the sun, creating a stable orbit called a Lagrange point. There have also been asteroids discovered sharing the orbits of Venus, Mars, Uranus, and Neptune.
When researchers first spotted 2020 XL5, they weren’t sure if it was actually a Trojan asteroid or whether it was merely crossing over the orbit of Earth. Observations with the 4.1-meter SOAR Telescope on Cerro Pachón in Chile confirmed its orbit, and also found out about its size. Other instruments also confirmed its orbit and found that it is a C-type asteroid, meaning it contains a lot of carbon.
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