Discovery of Jupiter Family Comet 2011 UG104 Through AI Enhanced Citizen Science

• DOI: 10.3847/2515-5172/ad4d9c
• Publication Date: 2024-05-22T15:49:48Z
• Authors: Jarod A. DeSpain; Colin Orion Chandler; Nima Sedaghat; William J. Oldroyd; Chadwick A. Trujillo; William A. Burris; Henry H. Hsieh; Jay K. Kueny; Kennedy A. Farrell; Mark Jesus Mendoz...; Scott S. Sheppard; Michele T. Mazzucato; Milton K. D. Bosch; Tiffany Shaw-Diaz; Virgilio Gonano; Al Lamperti; José A. da Silva ...; Brian L. Goodwin; Ivan A. Terentev; Charles J. A. Dukes
• Keywords: Jupiter (rocket family)

Abstract We report the discovery of cometary activity from minor planet 2011 UG 104 , which we classify as a Jupiter Family Comet (JFC). This was aided by our Artificial Intelligence (AI) classification system: TailNet . JFC's, short-period comets with eccentric Jupiter-crossing orbits, originate Kuiper Belt and thus give us unique insight into composition distribution volatiles in outer solar system, past present. Our AI assistant first classified active, affirmed Citizen Scientists on NASA Partner Program Active Asteroids Through further archival image searches science team found evidence three separate observations 2021 February to April (81.°8 < f 95.°0).