The Amor asteroid group compared to the orbits of the terrestrial planets of the Solar System.
  Mars (M)
  Mars trojans
  Venus (V)
  Mercury (H)
  Sun
  Amor asteroids
  Earth (E)

The Amor asteroids are a group of near-Earth asteroids named after the archetype object 1221 Amor /ˈmɔːr/. 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 November 2023 there are 12,020 known Amor asteroids. Of those objects, 1275 are numbered and 80 are named.[3]

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.[4]

Lists

Prominent Amor asteroids

NameYearDiscovererRefs
3908 Nyx1980Hans-Emil SchusterMPC · JPL · LCDB
1221 Amor1932Eugène DelporteMPC · JPL · LCDB
1036 Ganymed1924Walter BaadeMPC · JPL · LCDB
887 Alinda1918Max WolfMPC · JPL · LCDB
719 Albert1911Johann PalisaMPC · JPL · LCDB
433 Eros1898Gustav WittMPC · JPL · LCDB

Named Amor asteroids

This is a non-static list of named Amor asteroids.[5]

Designation Prov. designation
433 Eros1898 DQ
719 Albert1911 MT
887 Alinda1918 DB
1036 Ganymed1924 TD
1221 Amor1932 EA1
1580 Betulia1950 KA
1627 Ivar1929 SH
1915 Quetzalcoatl1953 EA
1916 Boreas1953 RA
1917 Cuyo1968 AA
1943 Anteros1973 EC
1980 Tezcatlipoca1950 LA
2059 Baboquivari1963 UA
2061 Anza1960 UA
2202 Pele1972 RA
2368 Beltrovata1977 RA
2608 Seneca1978 DA
3102 Krok1981 QA
3122 Florence1981 ET3
3199 Nefertiti1982 RA
3271 Ul1982 RB
3288 Seleucus1982 DV
3352 McAuliffe1981 CW
3551 Verenia1983 RD
3552 Don Quixote1983 SA
Designation Prov. designation
3553 Mera1985 JA
3671 Dionysus1984 KD
3691 Bede1982 FT
3757 Anagolay1982 XB
3908 Nyx1980 PA
3988 Huma1986 LA
4055 Magellan1985 DO2
4401 Aditi1985 TB
4487 Pocahontas1987 UA
4503 Cleobulus1989 WM
4947 Ninkasi1988 TJ1
4954 Eric1990 SQ
4957 Brucemurray1990 XJ
5324 Lyapunov1987 SL
5332 Davidaguilar1990 DA
5370 Taranis1986 RA
5620 Jasonwheeler1990 OA
5653 Camarillo1992 WD5
5751 Zao1992 AC
5797 Bivoj1980 AA
5863 Tara1983 RB
5869 Tanith1988 VN4
5879 Almeria1992 CH1
6050 Miwablock1992 AE
6456 Golombek1992 OM
Designation Prov. designation
6569 Ondaatje1993 MO
7088 Ishtar1992 AA
7336 Saunders1989 RS1
7358 Oze1995 YA3
7480 Norwan1994 PC
8013 Gordonmoore1990 KA
8034 Akka1992 LR
8709 Kadlu1994 JF1
9172 Abhramu1989 OB
9950 ESA1990 VB
11284 Belenus1990 BA
13553 Masaakikoyama1992 JE
15745 Yuliya1991 PM5
15817 Lucianotesi1994 QC
16064 Davidharvey1999 RH27
16912 Rhiannon1998 EP8
18106 Blume2000 NX3
20460 Robwhiteley1999 LO28
21088 Chelyabinsk1992 BL2
52387 Huitzilopochtli1993 OM7
65803 Didymos1996 GT
96189 Pygmalion1991 NT3
154991 Vinciguerra2005 BX26
162011 Konnohmaru1994 AB1
164215 Doloreshill2004 MF6
Designation Prov. designation
189011 Ogmios1997 NJ6
452307 Manawydan1997 XV11
481984 Cernunnos2009 KL2

See also

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 The Potentially Hazardous Asteroids (PHAs)". The International Astronomical Union Minor Planet Center. IAU - Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 2023-11-13.
  5. "List Of Amor Minor Planets (by designation)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.