(614689) 2020 XL5

(614689) 2020 XL5 (provisional designation 2020 XL5) is a near-Earth asteroid and Earth trojan discovered by the Pan-STARRS 1 survey at Haleakala Observatory, Hawaii on 12 December 2020.

It oscillates around the Sun–Earth L4 Lagrangian point (leading 60°), one of the dynamically stable locations where the combined gravitational force acts through the Sun's and Earth's barycenter.

The asteroid has been identified in several precovery observations by various sky surveys, including Pan-STARRS, from dates as far back as December 2012.

Since its orbit crosses Earth's while having a semi-major axis greater than 1 AU (by a small margin), 2020 XL5 is classified as an Apollo asteroid.

[5] Subsequent analysis confirmed modeling stability for at least several thousand years into the future based on existing orbital parameters.

[15] 2020 XL5's high orbital eccentricity results in wide, tadpole-shaped oscillation paths in a corotating reference frame with Earth and its Lagrangian points.

[16] Photometric measurements of optical observations from 2020 to 2021 show that 2020 XL5 exhibits a color resembling that of carbonaceous C-type asteroids.

Heliocentric orbit diagram of 2020 XL 5 along with the inner planets
Effective potential plot showing Earth's Lagrangian points (not to scale); contours around L 4 and L 5 represent tadpole loop paths
Animation of 2020 XL 5 's orbit from 1600 to 2500 - relative to Sun and Earth Sun · Earth · 2020 XL 5