Transient Co-orbitals of Venus: An Update

TL;DR

This paper investigates the transient co-orbital objects of Venus, presenting numerical evidence that 2015 WZ12 may be a recent transient Trojan, expanding understanding of Venus's co-orbital dynamics.

Contribution

The study provides new numerical evidence identifying 2015 WZ12 as a potential transient Venus co-orbital, highlighting the dynamic nature of Venus's co-orbital population.

Findings

2015 WZ12 is a possible Venus co-orbital

2015 WZ12 may have been a transient Trojan recently

Venus's co-orbital population is dynamically active

Abstract

Venus has no known satellites, but has four known co-orbitals: (322756) 2001 CK32, 2002 VE68, 2012 XE133, and 2013 ND15. Here, we present numerical evidence suggesting that 2015 WZ12 is a possible Venus co-orbital; it might have been until recently a transient Trojan. Follow-up observations of this target in the near future will be difficult, though.