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Apollo asteroid

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Common orbital subgroups of Near-Earth Objects (NEOs)

The Apollo asteroids are a group of near-Earth asteroids named after 1862 Apollo, discovered by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth in the 1930s. They are Earth-crossing asteroids that have an orbital semi-major axis greater than that of the Earth (a > 1 AU) but perihelion distances less than the Earth's aphelion distance (q < 1.017 AU).[1][2]

As of January 2025, the number of known Apollo asteroids is 21,083, making the class the largest group of near-Earth objects (cf. the Aten, Amor and Atira asteroids), of which 1,742 are numbered (asteroids are not numbered until they have been observed at two or more oppositions), 81 are named, and 2,130 are identified as potentially hazardous asteroids.[3][4]

The closer their semi-major axis is to Earth's, the less eccentricity is needed for the orbits to cross. The Chelyabinsk meteor, that exploded over the city of Chelyabinsk in the southern Urals region of Russia on February 15, 2013, injuring an estimated 1,500 people with flying glass from broken windows, was an Apollo-class asteroid.[5][6]

Apollo asteroids are generally named after Greek deities.[7]

List

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The largest known Apollo asteroid is 1866 Sisyphus, with a diameter of about 8.5 km. Examples of known Apollo asteroids include:

Designation Year Discoverer/First observed (A) Ref
2025 PU 2025 Zwicky Transient Facility MPC
2024 PT5 2024 ATLAS-SAAO MPC
2019 SU3 2019 ATLAS-HKO MPC
2016 WF9 2016 NEOWISE MPC
(671294) 2014 JO25 2014 CSS MPC
2013 FW13 2013 CSS MPC
2013 RH74 2013 CSS MPC
2011 MD 2011 LINEAR MPC(B)
2011 EO40 2011 CSS–Mount Lemmon Survey MPC
2010 AL30 2010 LINEAR MPC
(529366) 2009 WM1 2009 CSS MPC
2009 DD45 2009 Siding Spring Observatory, Australia MPC
(386454) 2008 XM 2008 LINEAR List
2008 TC3 2008 CSS MPC
2008 FF5 2008 CSS–Mount Lemmon Survey MPC
2007 VK184 2007 CSS MPC
2007 TU24 2007 CSS MPC
2007 WD5 2007 CSS MPC
2007 OX 2007 CSS–Mount Lemmon Survey MPC
(277810) 2006 FV35 2006 Spacewatch List
(394130) 2006 HY51 2006 LINEAR List
(292220) 2006 SU49 2006 Spacewatch List
(308635) 2005 YU55 2005 R. S. McMillan, Steward Observatory, Kitt Peak, USA List
2005 WY55 2005 Mount Lemmon Survey MPC
2005 HC4 2005 LONEOS MPC
(612901) 2004 XP14 2004 LINEAR MPC
(374158) 2004 UL 2004 LINEAR List
(357439) 2004 BL86 2004 LINEAR List
(444004) 2004 AS1 2004 LINEAR List
2003 RW11 2003 James Whitney Young MPC
2003 BV35 2003 James Whitney Young MPC
(89958) 2002 LY45 2002 LINEAR List
(179806) 2002 TD66 2002 LINEAR List
54509 YORP 2000 LINEAR List
162173 Ryugu 1999 LINEAR List
(137108) 1999 AN10 1999 LINEAR List
101955 Bennu 1999 LINEAR (Bennu is the target of the OSIRIS-REx mission) List
1998 KY26 1998 Spacewatch MPC
(433953) 1997 XR2 1997 LINEAR List
65803 Didymos 1996 Spacewatch List
69230 Hermes 1937 Karl Reinmuth List
(53319) 1999 JM8 1999 LINEAR List
(52760) 1998 ML14 1998 LINEAR List
(35396) 1997 XF11 1997 Spacewatch List
25143 Itokawa 1998 LINEAR List
(136617) 1994 CC 1994 Spacewatch List
(175706) 1996 FG3 1996 R. H. McNaught, Siding Spring Observatory, Australia List
6489 Golevka 1991 Eleanor F. Helin List
4769 Castalia 1989 Eleanor F. Helin List
4660 Nereus 1982 Eleanor F. Helin List
4581 Asclepius 1989 Henry E. Holt, Norman G. Thomas List
4486 Mithra 1987 Eric Elst, Vladimir Shkodrov List
14827 Hypnos 1986 Carolyn S. Shoemaker, Eugene Merle Shoemaker List
4197 Morpheus 1982 Eleanor F. Helin, Eugene Merle Shoemaker List
4183 Cuno 1959 Cuno Hoffmeister List
4179 Toutatis 1989 Christian Pollas List
4015 Wilson–Harrington   1979 Eleanor F. Helin List
3200 Phaethon 1983 Simon F. Green, John K.Davies / IRAS List
2063 Bacchus 1977 Charles T. Kowal List
1866 Sisyphus 1972 Paul Wild List
1620 Geographos 1951 Albert George Wilson, Rudolph Minkowski List
(29075) 1950 DA 1950 Carl A. Wirtanen List
1566 Icarus 1949 Walter Baade List
1685 Toro 1948 Carl A. Wirtanen List
2101 Adonis 1936 Eugène Joseph Delporte List
1862 Apollo 1932 Karl Reinmuth List
(A) Discoverer:
A discoverer is determined by the MPC when the object is numbered. For unnumbered bodies, the table gives the "first observer".
LINEAR: Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research
CSS : Catalina Sky Survey
Spacewatch, on Kitt Peak, near Tucson, Arizona[8]

(B) Classification:

2011 MD is classified as Amor, not Apollo asteroid by the MPC

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Near-Earth Object Groups". JPL – NASA. Archived from the original on 2 February 2002. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
  2. ^ Weisstein, Eric. "Apollo Asteroid". Wolfram Research. Archived from the original on 28 January 2016. Retrieved 27 February 2013.
  3. ^ "Small-Body Database Query". Solar System Dynamics – Jet Propulsion Laboratory. NASA – California Institute of Technology. Archived from the original on 2021-09-27. Retrieved 2025-01-17.
  4. ^ "List of Apollo Minor Planets". IAU Minor Planet Center. Center for Astrophysics. Archived from the original on 2024-05-29. Retrieved 2025-01-17.
  5. ^ Cantor, Matt (26 February 2013). "Scientists figure out Russia meteor's origin". USA Today. Archived from the original on 20 April 2019. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
  6. ^ Jacob Aron (26 February 2013). "Russian meteor traced to Apollo asteroid family". New Scientist. Archived from the original on 13 July 2024. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
  7. ^ Phait, Phil (19 April 2021), "Apophis and Stargate", Bad Astronomy Newsletter, no. 315, retrieved 11 August 2025
  8. ^ The Spacewatch Project, Arizona Board of Regents, 2010, archived from the original on 2017-07-18, retrieved 2015-08-16
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