The asteroid, nicknamed Bee-Zed, is the only one in this solar system that is known both to have an opposite, retrograde orbit around the Sun while at the same time sharing a planet's orbital space, said Paul Wiegert from Western University in the US.
All but 82 of the million or so known asteroids in our solar system travel around the Sun in what is called a prograde motion: that is, counter-clockwise when visualised from above.
"It is as if Jupiter is a monster truck on a track circling the sun, and the asteroids in Jupiter's orbit are sub-compact cars all whizzing along in the same direction," researchers said.
"Bee-Zed is the rogue - driving around the track in the wrong direction - steering between the 6,000 other cars and swerving around the monster truck," they said.
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Jupiter's gravity actually deflects the asteroid's path at each pass so as to allow both to continue safely on their way, Wiegert said.
Little is known about the asteroid, which was discovered in January, 2015. It has a diameter of about three kilometers and it may have originated from the same place as Halley's comet, which also has a retrograde orbit.
The team has not been able to determine yet if Bee-Zed is an icy comet or a rocky asteroid.
The calculations conducted by the team show the orbit has been stable for at least a million years and will be stable for at least a million more.
Learning more about the asteroid provides another intriguing glimpse into previously unknown and unmapped features of our solar system.
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