page_title: 514107 Kaʻepaokaʻawela
section_title: Orbit
hierarchical_section_title: 514107 Kaʻepaokaʻawela / Orbit
caption_attribution_description: English: This diagram shows one complete orbit of asteroid 2015 BZ509. The view is from side looking into the Solar System. The Sun is the yellow disk in the middle. The orbit of Jupiter is shown in black, and to scale. Jupiter is stationary in this rotating frame, and its position is shown with the small red circle (not to scale). The orbit of 2015 BZ509 is shown in blue when it is above (north of) the plane of the orbit of Jupiter, and it is shown in magenta when it is below (south of) the plane of the orbit of Jupiter.[1] Italiano: Il diagramma mostra un'orbita completa dell'asteroide (514107) 2015 BZ509 in un sistema di riferimento eliocentrico, solidale con Giove (nel quale cioè Giove appare fisso nello spazio). L'osservatore appartiene al piano orbitale di Giove ed osserva la scena di lato. In nero è mostrata l'orbita di Giove, la cui posizione è indicata col pallino rosso. Il pallino giallo identifica invece la posizione del Sole. L'orbita dell'asteroide è mostrata in blu quando è al di sopra del piano orbitale di Giove e in magenta quando è al di sotto.[1] References ↑ a b (2017). "A retrograde co-orbital asteroid of Jupiter". Nature 543: 687–689. DOI:10.1038/nature22029.
context_page_description: 514107 Kaʻepaokaʻawela, provisional designation 2015 BZ₅₀₉ and nicknamed Bee-Zed, is a small asteroid, approximately 3 kilometers in diameter, in a resonant, co-orbital motion with Jupiter. Its orbit is retrograde, which is opposite to the direction of most other bodies in the Solar System. It was discovered on 26 November 2014, by astronomers of the Pan-STARRS survey at Haleakala Observatory on the island of Maui, United States. The unusual object is the first example of an asteroid in a 1:–1 resonance with any of the planets. A study has suggested it may be an interstellar asteroid captured 4.5 billion years ago into an orbit around the Sun.
context_section_description: Kaʻepaokaʻawela orbits the Sun at a distance of 3.2–7.1 AU once every 11 years and 8 months (4,256 days; semi-major axis of 5.14 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.38 and an inclination of 163° with respect to the ecliptic.
  Its period is close to the 11.86-year period of Jupiter. During one Jovian year, Jupiter moves 360° around the sun whereas Kaʻepaokaʻawela moves 366.3° in the opposite direction. The eccentricity of its orbit allows it to alternately pass inside and outside of Jupiter's orbit at its closest approaches of 176 million kilometers. Each time it passes near Jupiter its orbital elements, including its period, are slightly altered. Over thousands of years the angle between the position of the asteroid and its perihelion minus the angle between Jupiter and the asteroid's perihelion tends to oscillate around zero with a period of about 660 years and an amplitude of about 125°, although sometimes this difference slips by a whole 360°.
  The adjunct diagram shows one complete orbit of asteroid Kaʻepaokaʻawela in a frame of reference rotating with Jupiter. The view is from the north looking south onto the Solar System. The dot in the middle is the Sun and the green circle is the orbit of Earth. The black circle shows the size of the orbit of Jupiter but in this frame of reference Jupiter (the red dot) stays almost stationary at the point on the circle directly to the right of the sun. The orbit of this asteroid is shown in blue when it is above the plane of the orbit of Jupiter, and in magenta when it is below the plane of the orbit of Jupiter.
  The second diagram shows one complete orbit of asteroid Kaʻepaokaʻawela in a frame of reference rotating with Jupiter. The view is from the side looking into the Solar System. The Sun is the yellow disk in the middle. The plane of the orbit of Jupiter is shown in black, but in this frame of reference Jupiter (the red dot) stays at the right end of the black line. The orbit of this asteroid is shown in blue when it is above (north of) the plane of the orbit of Jupiter, and it is shown in magenta when it is below (south of) the plane of the orbit of Jupiter.
  Perturbations from Jupiter maintain the stability of this orbit over millions of years. Simulations show that it has been in its co-orbital relation with Jupiter for at least a million years and will continue for at least another million years. It is somewhat of a mystery how this asteroid (or comet) got into this orbit, but it is thought that at some time in the distant past it was put into an orbit resembling its present orbit by an interaction with Saturn, and then its orbit was perturbed into the state it is in today. Likewise, in the far future it may eventually get close enough to Saturn to be expelled from its present co-orbital relation with Jupiter.
caption: Orbit (side-view) compared to Jupiter
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