The Amor asteroids are a group of near-Earth asteroids named after the archetype object 1221 Amor . 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).
The orbital characteristics that define an asteroid as being in the Amor group are:[2]
As of November 2023 there are 12,020 known Amor asteroids. Of those objects, 1275 are numbered and 80 are named.[3]
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.
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]
| width=150 | Name ! | Year | Discoverer | Refs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | ||||
| 1932 | ||||
| 1924 | ||||
| 1918 | ||||
| 1911 | ||||
| 1898 |
This is a non-static list of named Amor asteroids.
| important; height: 675px; | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| align=left | Designation | align=left | Prov. designation |
| 1898 DQ | |||
| 1911 MT | |||
| 1918 DB | |||
| 1924 TD | |||
| 1932 EA1 | |||
| 1950 KA | |||
| 1929 SH | |||
| 1953 EA | |||
| 1953 RA | |||
| 1968 AA | |||
| 1973 EC | |||
| 1950 LA | |||
| 1963 UA | |||
| 1960 UA | |||
| 1972 RA | |||
| 1977 RA | |||
| 1978 DA | |||
| 1981 QA | |||
| 1981 ET3 | |||
| 1982 RA | |||
| 1982 RB | |||
| 1982 DV | |||
| 1981 CW | |||
| 1983 RD | |||
| 1983 SA |
| important; height: 675px; | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| align=left | Designation | align=left | Prov. designation |
| 1985 JA | |||
| 1984 KD | |||
| 1982 FT | |||
| 1982 XB | |||
| 1980 PA | |||
| 1986 LA | |||
| 1985 DO2 | |||
| 1985 TB | |||
| 1987 UA | |||
| 1989 WM | |||
| 1988 TJ1 | |||
| 1990 SQ | |||
| 1990 XJ | |||
| 1987 SL | |||
| 1990 DA | |||
| 1986 RA | |||
| 1990 OA | |||
| 1991 FE | |||
| 1992 WD5 | |||
| 1992 AC | |||
| 1980 AA | |||
| 1983 RB | |||
| 1988 VN4 | |||
| 1992 CH1 | |||
| 1992 AE |
| important; height: 675px; | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| align=left | Designation | align=left | Prov. designation |
| 1992 OM | |||
| 1993 MO | |||
| 1992 AA | |||
| 1989 RS1 | |||
| 1995 YA3 | |||
| 1994 PC | |||
| 1990 KA | |||
| 1992 LR | |||
| 1994 JF1 | |||
| 1989 OB | |||
| 1990 VB | |||
| 1990 BA | |||
| 1992 JE | |||
| 1991 PM5 | |||
| 1994 QC | |||
| 1999 RH27 | |||
| 1998 EP8 | |||
| 2000 NX3 | |||
| 1999 LO28 | |||
| 1992 BL2 | |||
| 1993 OM7 | |||
| 1996 GT | |||
| 1991 NT3 | |||
| 2005 BX26 | |||
| 1994 AB1 |
| important; | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| align=left | Designation | align=left | Prov. designation |
| 2004 MF6 | |||
| 1997 NJ6 | |||
| 2002 WP11 | |||
| 1997 XV11 | |||
| 2009 KL2 | |||
| 2014 OA2 | |||
| 2016 XD1 | |||