View source for Amor asteroid

{{Short description|Group of near-Earth asteroids}}
[[File:Neo orbit types.jpg|thumb|upright=2.4|Common orbital subgroups of [[Near-Earth Object]]s (NEOs)]]

The '''Amor asteroids''' are a group of [[near-Earth asteroid]]s named after the archetype object [[1221 Amor]] {{IPAc-en|'|ei|m|Or}}. 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),<ref>{{cite web |title=Amor asteroid |url=http://www.sozvezdiya.ru/eng/a.php |website=astronomy encyclopedia |publisher=Созвездия.ру |access-date=2018-12-26}}</ref> with most Amors crossing the orbit of Mars. The Amor asteroid [[433 Eros]] was the first asteroid to be [[orbit]]ed and landed upon by a robotic [[space probe]] ([[NEAR Shoemaker]]).

== Definition ==
[[File:Rendezvous with Eros.jpg|thumb|upright|Amor asteroid [[433 Eros|Eros]] visited by ''[[NEAR Shoemaker]]'' in 2000]]
The orbital characteristics that define an asteroid as being in the Amor group are:<ref name=NEO-groups>{{cite web |title=NEO Groups |publisher=NASA/JPL Near-Earth Object Program Office |url=http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/neo/groups.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020202160655/http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/neo/groups.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2002-02-02 |access-date=2012-06-04}}</ref>

* 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 January 2025 there are 15,175 known Amor asteroids. Of those objects, 1414 are numbered, 83 are named, and 42 are designated as a [[potentially hazardous asteroids|potentially hazardous asteroid]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Small-Body Database Query |url=https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/tools/sbdb_query.html#!#results |website=Solar System Dynamics - Jet Propulsion Laboratory |publisher=NASA - California Institute of Technology |access-date=2025-01-17}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=List of Amor Minor Planets |url=https://minorplanetcenter.net/iau/lists/Amors.html |website=IAU Minor Planet Center |publisher=Center for Astrophysics |access-date=2025-01-17}}</ref>

=== 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 [[Apsis|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 asteroid|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 asteroid]]s or [[Apollo asteroid]]s (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]].<ref>{{cite web |title=List Of The Potentially Hazardous Asteroids (PHAs) |url=https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/iau/lists/t_phas.html |website=The International Astronomical Union Minor Planet Center |publisher=IAU - Minor Planet Center |access-date=2023-11-13}}</ref>

== Lists ==
{{anchor|List of named Amor asteroids|List of Amor asteroids}}
{{For|a list of articles about Amor asteroids|Category:Amor asteroids}}

=== Prominent Amor asteroids ===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! width=150 | Name !! Year !! Discoverer || class="unsortable" | Refs
|-
| [[3908 Nyx]] || 1980 || [[Hans-Emil Schuster]] || {{MPC|3908}}{{·}}{{JPL|3908}}{{·}}{{LCDB|3908}}
|-
| [[1221 Amor]] || 1932 || [[Eugène Delporte]] || {{MPC|1221}}{{·}}{{JPL|1221}}{{·}}{{LCDB|1221}}
|-
| [[1036 Ganymed]] || 1924 || [[Walter Baade]] || {{MPC|1036}}{{·}}{{JPL|1036}}{{·}}{{LCDB|1036}}
|-
| [[887 Alinda]] || 1918 || [[Max Wolf]] || {{MPC|887}}{{·}}{{JPL|887}}{{·}}{{LCDB|887}}
|-
| [[719 Albert]] || 1911 || [[Johann Palisa]] || {{MPC|719}}{{·}}{{JPL|719}}{{·}}{{LCDB|719}}
|-
| [[433 Eros]] || 1898 || [[Gustav Witt]] || {{MPC|433}}{{·}}{{JPL|433}}{{·}}{{LCDB|433}}
|}

=== Named Amor asteroids ===

This is a non-static list of named Amor asteroids.<ref name="MPC-Amor-list" />

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 89%; float: left; width: 25em; margin-right: 1em; line-height: 1.65em !important; height: 675px;
|-
! align=left | [[Minor planet designation|Designation]]
! align=left | [[Provisional designation in astronomy#Minor planets|Prov. designation]]
|-
| [[433 Eros]] || 1898 DQ
|-
| [[719 Albert]] || 1911 MT
|-
| [[887 Alinda]] || 1918 DB
|-
| [[1036 Ganymed]] || 1924 TD
|-
| [[1221 Amor]] || 1932 EA<sub>1</sub>
|-
| [[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 ET<sub>3</sub>
|-
| [[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
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 89%; float: left; width: 25em; margin-right: 1em; line-height: 1.65em !important; height: 675px;
|-
! align=left | [[Minor planet designation|Designation]]
! align=left | [[Provisional designation in astronomy#Minor planets|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 DO<sub>2</sub>
|-
| [[4401 Aditi]] || 1985 TB
|-
| [[4487 Pocahontas]] || 1987 UA
|-
| [[4503 Cleobulus]] || 1989 WM
|-
| [[4947 Ninkasi]] || 1988 TJ<sub>1</sub>
|-
| [[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 WD<sub>5</sub>
|-
| [[5751 Zao]] || 1992 AC
|-
| [[5797 Bivoj]] || 1980 AA
|-
| [[5863 Tara]] || 1983 RB
|-
| [[5869 Tanith]] || 1988 VN<sub>4</sub>
|-
| [[5879 Almeria]] || 1992 CH<sub>1</sub>
|-
| [[6050 Miwablock]] || 1992 AE
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 89%; float: left; width: 25em; margin-right: 1em; line-height: 1.65em !important; height: 675px;
|-
! align=left | [[Minor planet designation|Designation]]
! align=left | [[Provisional designation in astronomy#Minor planets|Prov. designation]]
|-
| [[6456 Golombek]] || 1992 OM
|-
| [[6569 Ondaatje]] || 1993 MO
|-
| [[7088 Ishtar]] || 1992 AA
|-
| [[7336 Saunders]] || 1989 RS<sub>1</sub>
|-
| [[7358 Oze]] || 1995 YA<sub>3</sub>
|-
| [[7480 Norwan]] || 1994 PC
|-
| [[8013 Gordonmoore]] || 1990 KA
|-
| [[8034 Akka]] || 1992 LR
|-
| [[8709 Kadlu]] || 1994 JF<sub>1</sub>
|-
| [[9172 Abhramu]] || 1989 OB
|-
| [[9950 ESA]] || 1990 VB
|-
| [[11284 Belenus]] || 1990 BA
|-
| [[13553 Masaakikoyama]] || 1992 JE
|-
| [[15745 Yuliya]] || 1991 PM<sub>5</sub>
|-
| [[15817 Lucianotesi]] || 1994 QC
|-
| [[16064 Davidharvey]] || 1999 RH<sub>27</sub>
|-
| [[16912 Rhiannon]] || 1998 EP<sub>8</sub>
|-
| [[18106 Blume]] || 2000 NX<sub>3</sub>
|-
| [[20460 Robwhiteley]] || 1999 LO<sub>28</sub>
|-
| [[21088 Chelyabinsk]] || 1992 BL<sub>2</sub>
|-
| [[52387 Huitzilopochtli]] || 1993 OM<sub>7</sub>
|-
| [[65803 Didymos]] || 1996 GT
|-
| [[96189 Pygmalion]] || 1991 NT<sub>3</sub>
|-
| [[154991 Vinciguerra]] || 2005 BX<sub>26</sub>
|-
| [[162011 Konnohmaru]] || 1994 AB<sub>1</sub>
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 89%; float: left; width: 25em; margin-right: 1em; line-height: 1.65em !important; 
|-
! align=left | [[Minor planet designation|Designation]]
! align=left | [[Provisional designation in astronomy#Minor planets|Prov. designation]]
|-
| [[164215 Doloreshill]] || 2004 MF<sub>6</sub>
|-
| [[189011 Ogmios]] || 1997 NJ<sub>6</sub>
|-
| [[280244 Ati]] || 2002 WP<sub>11</sub>
|-
| [[452307 Manawydan]] || 1997 XV<sub>11</sub>
|-
| [[481984 Cernunnos]] || 2009 KL<sub>2</sub>
|-
| [[520585 Saci]] || 2014 OA<sub>2</sub>
|-
| [[605911 Cecily]] || 2016 XD<sub>1</sub>
|-
| [[679829 Sucellos]] || 2021 EC<sub>5</sub>
|-
| [[785648 Likho]] || 2015 RG<sub>36</sub>
|}
{{Clear}}

== See also ==
* [[List of Amor asteroid records]]
* [[Apollo asteroid]]
* [[Aten asteroid]]
* [[Atira asteroid]]
* [[Alinda asteroid]]
* [[Arjuna asteroid]]
* [[List of minor planets]]

==References==
{{Reflist
|refs=

<ref name="MPC-Amor-list">{{cite web
  |title      = List Of Amor Minor Planets (by designation)
  |work       = Minor Planet Center
  |url        = http://www.minorplanetcenter.org/iau/lists/Amors.html
  |access-date = 3 March 2017}}</ref>

}} <!-- end of reflist -->

== External links ==
* [http://www.minorplanetcenter.org/iau/lists/Amors.html List of Amor minor planets]

{{Asteroids}}
{{Small Solar System bodies}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Amor asteroids|*]]
[[Category:Lists of asteroids|Amor]]