Group of near-Earth asteroids
Common orbital subgroups ofNear-Earth Objects (NEOs) TheApollo asteroids are a group ofnear-Earth asteroids named after1862 Apollo , discovered by German astronomerKarl Reinmuth in the 1930s. They areEarth-crossing asteroids that have an orbitalsemi-major axis greater than that of the Earth (a > 1AU ) butperihelion distances less than the Earth'saphelion distance (q < 1.017 AU).[ 1] [ 2]
As of January 2025[update] near-Earth objects (cf . theAten ,Amor andAtira asteroids), of which 1,742 arenumbered (asteroids are not numbered until they have been observed at two or moreoppositions ), 81 are named, and 2,130 are identified aspotentially hazardous asteroids .[ 3] [ 4]
The closer their semi-major axis is to Earth's, the lesseccentricity is needed for theorbits to cross. TheChelyabinsk meteor , that exploded over the city ofChelyabinsk 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-classasteroid .[ 5] [ 6]
Apollo asteroids are generally named afterGreek deities .[ 7]
The largest known Apollo asteroid is1866 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 theOSIRIS-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 theMPC 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
^ "Near-Earth Object Groups" . JPL – NASA. Archived fromthe original on 2 February 2002. Retrieved11 November 2016 .^ Weisstein, Eric."Apollo Asteroid" . Wolfram Research.Archived from the original on 28 January 2016. Retrieved27 February 2013 . ^ "Small-Body Database Query" .Solar System Dynamics – Jet Propulsion Laboratory . NASA – California Institute of Technology.Archived from the original on 2021-09-27. Retrieved2025-01-17 .^ "List of Apollo Minor Planets" .IAU Minor Planet Center . Center for Astrophysics.Archived from the original on 2024-05-29. Retrieved2025-01-17 .^ Cantor, Matt (26 February 2013)."Scientists figure out Russia meteor's origin" .USA Today .Archived from the original on 20 April 2019. Retrieved11 November 2016 . ^ Jacob Aron (26 February 2013)."Russian meteor traced to Apollo asteroid family" .New Scientist .Archived from the original on 13 July 2024. Retrieved11 November 2016 . ^ Phait, Phil (19 April 2021),"Apophis and Stargate" ,Bad Astronomy Newsletter , no. 315, retrieved11 August 2025 ^ The Spacewatch Project archived from the original on 2017-07-18, retrieved2015-08-16
