Chaotic diffusion and transient resonance captures of the near-Earth asteroid 2024 YR

Near-Earth asteroid 2024 YR4 is a dynamically interesting object due to its predicted close approach to Earth in 2032 and its potential previous residence in mean-motion resonances (MMRs). We investigated the previous resonant status of 2024 YR4 through numerical integrations backward for 100 000 years using a statistical approach with 1000 virtual asteroids within the initial uncertainties and employing the ias 15 (modified Everhart) integrator. The statistical analysis revealed a probability for 2024 YR4 of 72% to have been trapped in the 3J-1 resonance in its previous dynamical history, including the nominal orbit. The resonance sticking phenomenon is evident; The asteroid experienced multiple temporary captures in various resonances. Beyond the dominant 3J-1 MMR, 16% of the simulated cases show capture in the 1M-2 resonance and 12% in the 2M+3J-5 resonance, but these secondary captures typically persist for only 2000–10 000 years. These findings agree with existing models of the near-Earth asteroid production, where chaotic diffusion arising from overlapping mean-motion and secular resonances transports objects from the main belt into near-Earth orbits.