Amor asteroid

Common orbital subgroups of Near-Earth Objects (NEOs)

The Amor asteroids are a group of near-Earth asteroids named after the archetype object 1221 Amor /ˈeɪmɔːr/. The orbital perihelion of these objects is close to, but greater than, the orbital aphelion of Earth (i.e., the objects do not cross Earth's orbit),^[1] with most Amors crossing the orbit of Mars. The Amor asteroid 433 Eros was the first asteroid to be orbited and landed upon by a robotic space probe (NEAR Shoemaker).

Definition

Amor asteroid Eros visited by NEAR Shoemaker in 2000

The orbital characteristics that define an asteroid as being in the Amor group are:^[2]

• The orbital period is greater than one year; i.e., the orbital semi-major axis (a) is greater than 1.0 AU (a > 1.0 AU);
• The orbit does not cross that of Earth; i.e., the orbital perihelion (q) is greater than Earth's orbital aphelion (q > 1.017 AU);
• The object is a near-Earth object (NEO); i.e., q < 1.3 AU.

Populations

As of October 2024 there are 14,722 known Amor asteroids. Of those objects, 1391 are numbered, 83 are named, and 145 are designated as a potentially hazardous asteroid.^[3][4]

Outer Earth-grazer asteroids

An outer Earth-grazer asteroid is an asteroid that is normally beyond Earth's orbit, but which can get closer to the Sun than Earth's aphelion (1.0167 AU), and not closer than Earth's perihelion (0.9833 AU); i.e., the asteroid's perihelion is between Earth's perihelion and aphelion. Outer Earth-grazer asteroids are split between Amor and Apollo asteroids. Using the definition of Amor asteroids above, "Earth grazers" that never get closer to the Sun than Earth does (at any point along its orbit) are Amors, whereas those that do are Apollos.

Potentially hazardous asteroids

To be considered a potentially hazardous asteroid (PHA), an object's orbit must, at some point, come within 0.05 AU of Earth's orbit, and the object itself must be sufficiently large/massive to cause significant regional damage if it impacted Earth. Most PHAs are either Aten asteroids or Apollo asteroids (and thus have orbits that cross the orbit of Earth), and as of November 2023 70 Amors are classified as a PHA, the named objects 2061 Anza, 3122 Florence, 3908 Nyx, and 3671 Dionysus.^[5]

Lists

For a list of articles about Amor asteroids, see Category:Amor asteroids.

Prominent Amor asteroids

Name	Year	Discoverer	Refs
3908 Nyx	1980	Hans-Emil Schuster	MPC · JPL · LCDB
1221 Amor	1932	Eugène Delporte	MPC · JPL · LCDB
1036 Ganymed	1924	Walter Baade	MPC · JPL · LCDB
887 Alinda	1918	Max Wolf	MPC · JPL · LCDB
719 Albert	1911	Johann Palisa	MPC · JPL · LCDB
433 Eros	1898	Gustav Witt	MPC · JPL · LCDB

Named Amor asteroids

This is a non-static list of named Amor asteroids.^[6]

Designation	Prov. designation
433 Eros	1898 DQ
719 Albert	1911 MT
887 Alinda	1918 DB
1036 Ganymed	1924 TD
1221 Amor	1932 EA1
1580 Betulia	1950 KA
1627 Ivar	1929 SH
1915 Quetzalcoatl	1953 EA
1916 Boreas	1953 RA
1917 Cuyo	1968 AA
1943 Anteros	1973 EC
1980 Tezcatlipoca	1950 LA
2059 Baboquivari	1963 UA
2061 Anza	1960 UA
2202 Pele	1972 RA
2368 Beltrovata	1977 RA
2608 Seneca	1978 DA
3102 Krok	1981 QA
3122 Florence	1981 ET3
3199 Nefertiti	1982 RA
3271 Ul	1982 RB
3288 Seleucus	1982 DV
3352 McAuliffe	1981 CW
3551 Verenia	1983 RD
3552 Don Quixote	1983 SA

Designation	Prov. designation
3553 Mera	1985 JA
3671 Dionysus	1984 KD
3691 Bede	1982 FT
3757 Anagolay	1982 XB
3908 Nyx	1980 PA
3988 Huma	1986 LA
4055 Magellan	1985 DO2
4401 Aditi	1985 TB
4487 Pocahontas	1987 UA
4503 Cleobulus	1989 WM
4947 Ninkasi	1988 TJ1
4954 Eric	1990 SQ
4957 Brucemurray	1990 XJ
5324 Lyapunov	1987 SL
5332 Davidaguilar	1990 DA
5370 Taranis	1986 RA
5620 Jasonwheeler	1990 OA
5626 Melissabrucker	1991 FE
5653 Camarillo	1992 WD5
5751 Zao	1992 AC
5797 Bivoj	1980 AA
5863 Tara	1983 RB
5869 Tanith	1988 VN4
5879 Almeria	1992 CH1
6050 Miwablock	1992 AE

Designation	Prov. designation
6456 Golombek	1992 OM
6569 Ondaatje	1993 MO
7088 Ishtar	1992 AA
7336 Saunders	1989 RS1
7358 Oze	1995 YA3
7480 Norwan	1994 PC
8013 Gordonmoore	1990 KA
8034 Akka	1992 LR
8709 Kadlu	1994 JF1
9172 Abhramu	1989 OB
9950 ESA	1990 VB
11284 Belenus	1990 BA
13553 Masaakikoyama	1992 JE
15745 Yuliya	1991 PM5
15817 Lucianotesi	1994 QC
16064 Davidharvey	1999 RH27
16912 Rhiannon	1998 EP8
18106 Blume	2000 NX3
20460 Robwhiteley	1999 LO28
21088 Chelyabinsk	1992 BL2
52387 Huitzilopochtli	1993 OM7
65803 Didymos	1996 GT
96189 Pygmalion	1991 NT3
154991 Vinciguerra	2005 BX26
162011 Konnohmaru	1994 AB1

Designation	Prov. designation
164215 Doloreshill	2004 MF6
189011 Ogmios	1997 NJ6
280244 Ati	2002 WP11
452307 Manawydan	1997 XV11
481984 Cernunnos	2009 KL2
520585 Saci	2014 OA2
605911 Cecily	2016 XD1

See also

• List of Amor asteroid records
• Apollo asteroid
• Aten asteroid
• Atira asteroid
• Alinda asteroid
• Arjuna asteroid
• List of minor planets

References

1. "Amor asteroid". astronomy encyclopedia. Созвездия.ру. Retrieved 2018-12-26.
2. "NEO Groups". NASA/JPL Near-Earth Object Program Office. Archived from the original on 2002-02-02. Retrieved 2012-06-04.
3. "Small-Body Database Query". Solar System Dynamics - Jet Propulsion Laboratory. NASA - California Institute of Technology. Retrieved 2023-11-13.
4. "List of Amor Minor Planets". IAU Minor Planet Center. Center for Astrophysics. Retrieved 2024-10-11.
5. "List Of The Potentially Hazardous Asteroids (PHAs)". The International Astronomical Union Minor Planet Center. IAU - Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 2023-11-13.
6. "List Of Amor Minor Planets (by designation)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 3 March 2017.

External links

• List of Amor minor planets