Location of the Apollo asteroids compared to the orbits of the terrestrial planets of the Solar System
  Mars (M)
  Venus (V)
  Mercury (H)		   Sun
  Apollo asteroids
  Earth (E)

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 November 2023, the number of known Apollo asteroids is 18,874, making the class the largest group of near-Earth objects (cf. the Aten, Amor and Atira asteroids),[3] of which 1,571 are numbered (asteroids are not numbered until they have been observed at two or more oppositions), and 2,041 are identified as potentially hazardous asteroids.[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]

List

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
2019 SU32019ATLAS-HKOMPC
2016 WF92016NEOWISEMPC
2014 JO252014CSSMPC
2013 FW132013CSSMPC
2013 RH742013CSSMPC
2011 MD2011LINEARMPC(B)
2011 EO402011CSS–Mount Lemmon SurveyMPC
2010 AL302010LINEARMPC
(529366) 2009 WM12009CSSMPC
2009 DD452009Siding Spring Observatory, AustraliaMPC
(386454) 2008 XM2008LINEARList
2008 TC32008CSSMPC
2008 FF52008CSS–Mount Lemmon SurveyMPC
2007 VK1842007CSSMPC
2007 TU242007CSSMPC
2007 WD52007CSSMPC
2007 OX2007CSS–Mount Lemmon SurveyMPC
(277810) 2006 FV352006SpacewatchList
(394130) 2006 HY512006LINEARList
(292220) 2006 SU492006SpacewatchList
(308635) 2005 YU552005R. S. McMillan, Steward Observatory, Kitt Peak, USAList
2005 WY552005Mount Lemmon SurveyMPC
2005 HC42005LONEOSMPC
2004 XP142004LINEARMPC
(374158) 2004 UL2004LINEARList
(357439) 2004 BL862004LINEARList
(444004) 2004 AS12004LINEARList
2003 RW112003James Whitney YoungMPC
2003 BV352003James Whitney YoungMPC
(89958) 2002 LY452002LINEARList
(179806) 2002 TD662002LINEARList
54509 YORP2000LINEARList
162173 Ryugu1999LINEARList
(137108) 1999 AN101999LINEARList
101955 Bennu1999LINEAR (Bennu is the target of the OSIRIS-REx mission)List
1998 KY261998SpacewatchMPC
(433953) 1997 XR21997LINEARList
65803 Didymos1996SpacewatchList
69230 Hermes1937Karl ReinmuthList
(53319) 1999 JM81999LINEARList
(52760) 1998 ML141998LINEARList
(35396) 1997 XF111997SpacewatchList
25143 Itokawa1998LINEARList
(136617) 1994 CC1994SpacewatchList
(175706) 1996 FG31996R. H. McNaught, Siding Spring Observatory, AustraliaList
6489 Golevka1991Eleanor F. HelinList
4769 Castalia1989Eleanor F. HelinList
4660 Nereus1982Eleanor F. HelinList
4581 Asclepius1989Henry E. Holt, Norman G. ThomasList
4486 Mithra1987Eric Elst, Vladimir ShkodrovList
14827 Hypnos1986Carolyn S. Shoemaker, Eugene Merle ShoemakerList
4197 Morpheus1982Eleanor F. Helin, Eugene Merle ShoemakerList
4183 Cuno1959Cuno HoffmeisterList
4179 Toutatis1989Christian PollasList
4015 Wilson–Harrington  1979Eleanor F. HelinList
3200 Phaethon1983Simon F. Green, John K.Davies / IRASList
2063 Bacchus1977Charles T. KowalList
1866 Sisyphus1972Paul WildList
1620 Geographos1951Albert George Wilson, Rudolph MinkowskiList
(29075) 1950 DA1950Carl A. WirtanenList
1566 Icarus1949Walter BaadeList
1685 Toro1948Carl A. WirtanenList
2101 Adonis1936Eugène Joseph DelporteList
1862 Apollo1932Karl ReinmuthList
(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[7]

(B) Classification:

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

See also

References

  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. Retrieved 27 February 2013.
  3. ↑ "NEO Discovery Statistics". Archived from the original on 13 May 2004. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
  4. ↑ "Small-Body Database Query". Solar System Dynamics – Jet Propulsion Laboratory. NASA – California Institute of Technology. Retrieved 2023-11-13.
  5. ↑ Cantor, Matt (26 February 2013). "Scientists figure out Russia meteor's origin". USA Today. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
  6. ↑ Jacob Aron (26 February 2013). "Russian meteor traced to Apollo asteroid family". New Scientist. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
  7. ↑ The Spacewatch Project, Arizona Board of Regents, 2010
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