Spectral properties of 2020 AV2, the first known asteroid orbiting inside Venus orbit

Abstract

Recent numerical simulations (Greenstreet et al. 2012, Granvik et al. 2018 predicted the existence of a population of small bodies that is orbiting entirely inside Venus orbit. They could represent about 0.22 % of the steady-state near-Earth asteroids (NEAs). These asteroids are called Vatiras (by analog with the Atira-class NEAs) or Interior to Venus Orbit Objects. However, only at the beginning of this year (January 4, 2020) the first one was discovered by Zwicky Transient Facility (Bolin et al. 2020). It is called 2020 AV 2 and has the aphelion at 0.654 AU, and the perihelion at 0.457 AU.The dynamical history of this object has been explored using N-body simulations (de la Fuente Marcos & de la Fuente Marcos 2020). It has been shown that 2020 AV 2 was a former Atira-class, and perhaps a former Aten-class asteroid, which reached the Vatira orbit relatively recently in astronomical terms, ∼10 5 yr (within 9σ confidence level). Similar results have also been reported by Greenstreet (2020).