 Orbital diagram ofAmor (cyan) with Earth, Mars and Jupiter (outermost) on 12 March 1932 | |
| Discovery[1][2] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | E. Delporte |
| Discovery site | Uccle Obs. |
| Discovery date | 12 March 1932 |
| Designations | |
| (1221) Amor | |
| Pronunciation | /ˈæmɔːr/[3] |
Named after | Cupid, Roman analogue ofEros[4] (Classical mythology) |
| 1932 EA1 | |
| Adjectives | Amorian/əˈmɔːriən/[7] |
| Symbol | .svg) (astrological) |
| Orbital characteristics[6] | |
| Epoch 23 March 2018 (JD 2458200.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 86.50 yr (31,595 d) |
| Aphelion | 2.7550 AU |
| Perihelion | 1.0832 AU |
| 1.9191 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.4355 |
| 2.66 yr (971 d) | |
| 102.03° | |
| 0° 22m 14.52s / day | |
| Inclination | 11.879° |
| 171.34° | |
| 26.656° | |
| Earth MOID | 0.1069 AU (41.6 LD) |
| Physical characteristics | |
| |
| S(assumed)[8] | |
1221 Amor/ˈæmɔːr/ is anasteroid andnear-Earth object on an eccentric orbit, approximately 1 kilometer (0.6 miles) in diameter. It is the namesake of theAmor asteroids, the second-largest subgroup of near-Earth objects. It was discovered byEugène Delporte at theUccle Observatory in 1932, the first time that an asteroid was seen to approach Earth so closely.[1] The assumedS-type asteroid is one of fewlow-numbered asteroids for which norotation period has been determined.[8] It was assigned the provisional designation1932 EA1 and named forCupid, also known as "Amor" in Latin, the Roman equivalent of the Greek godEros.[4]
On 12 March 1932, Belgian astronomerEugène Delporte photographedAmor at theRoyal Observatory of Belgium in Uccle,[1] as it approached Earth to within 16 million kilometers (about 40 times thedistance from Earth to the Moon). This was the first time that an asteroid was seen toapproach Earth so closely. The body'sobservation arc begins with its official discovery observation on 12 March 1932, when it was observed at theUccle andHeidelberg observatories simultaneously.[1]
Amor is the namesake of theAmor asteroid, a subgroup ofnear-Earth asteroids that approach the orbit of Earth from beyond, but do notcross it. Next to theApollo group, the Amors are the second largest group of near-Earth objects with more than 7,000 known members.[10] As with many members of this group,Amor is also aMars-crosser, crossing the orbit of the Red Planet at 1.66 AU.[6]
It orbits the Sun at a distance of 1.08–2.76 AU once every 2 years and 8 months (971 days;semi-major axis of 1.92 AU). Its orbit has a higheccentricity of 0.44 and aninclination of 12° with respect to theecliptic.[6]
Amor has an Earthminimum orbital intersection distance of 0.1069 AU (16,000,000 km) which corresponds to 41.6lunar distances.[6] In March 1940, it approached Earth to 0.1052 AU (15,700,000 km), its closest approach of all close encounters since 1900. Only in March 2129, it will approach Earth at a similar distance of 0.1082 AU (16,200,000 km).[6]
Thisminor planet was named after theRoman god of love,Cupid, also known as Amor in Latin, and the Roman equivalent of the Greek godEros.[4] The near-Earth asteroids433 Eros and763 Cupido are also named after the god of love. The official naming citation was mentioned inThe Names of the Minor Planets byPaul Herget in 1955 (H 113).[4]
Amor is an assumed, stonyS-type asteroid.[8]
As of 2018, no rotationallightcurve ofAmor has been obtained fromphotometric observations. The body'srotation period,pole and shape remain unknown.[6][8]
According toTom Gehrels's publicationHazards due to Comets and Asteroids from 1994 (pp. 540–543),Amor measures 1.0 kilometer in diameter and its surface has analbedo of 0.15.[6] TheCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for stony asteroids of 0.20 and calculates a diameter of 0.857 kilometers based on anabsolute magnitude of 17.7.[8]
