The object, discovered in 2021 and given the temporary name 2021 L4, orbits between Mars and Jupiter in the main asteroid belt, taking 3,956 days (10.83 years) to do so.

A new "main-belt comet" — a comet-like object masquerading as an asteroid in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter — has been identified, bringing the tally of these beguiling objects up ...

Main-belt comets (MBCs) and asteroids are fascinating celestial objects that reside in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. MBCs are unique because they exhibit comet-like activity ...

The main spacecraft will then head for main-belt comet 311P/PANSTARRS, which has asteroid-like orbital characteristics but also features comet-like activity. The two mission phases aim to provide ...

NASA's Lucy spacecraft, on its way to Jupiter's Trojan asteroids, has its next target in its sights: the main belt asteroid 52246 Donaldjohanson. Currently 45 million miles (70 million kilometers ...

The Tianwen-2 mission aims to achieve multiple goals in a single launch: it will collect samples from the near-Earth asteroid 2016HO3, as well as explore the main-belt comet 311P. An astronomer ...

The mission will carry out several tasks in a single launch, including a flyby of asteroid 2016 HO3, sample collection, return and main-belt comet 311P flyby exploration. The launch facility is ...

BEIJING, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- China is set to launch the Tianwen-2 mission this year, aiming to unravel the mysteries of a "living fossil" of the solar system and one "rebel" of the main asteroid belt.