Ghosts of Jupiter's past: is 2017 UV43 a relative of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9?

Abstract

The present-day orbit of 2017 UV43 resembles the average one of the fragments of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9. Here, we present numerical evidence suggesting that 2017 UV43 might be related to Shoemaker-Levy 9. With our exploratory results we intend to encourage a search for precovery images of 2017 UV43 and perhaps even follow-up observations that may help in improving its poorly determined orbit so its true dynamical nature can be understood.

3 pages, 1 figure. Research Notes of the AAS, Volume 1, Number 1, Article 45 (published 2017 December 13)