1221 Amor
|
|
| Discovery A (http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/lists/NumberedMPs.html) | |
|---|---|
| Discoverer | Eugène Joseph Delporte |
| Discovery date | March 12, 1932 |
| Alternate designations | 1932 EA1 B (http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/MPDes.html) |
| Category | Amor asteroid, Mars-crosser asteroid |
| Orbital elements C (http://asteroid.lowell.edu/) Epoch July 14, 2004 (JD 2453200.5) | |
| Eccentricity (e) | 0.435 |
| Semi-major axis (a) | 287.207 Gm (1.920 AU) |
| Perihelion (q) | 162.403 Gm (1.086 AU) |
| Aphelion (Q) | 412.011 Gm (2.754 AU) |
| Orbital period (P) | 971.635 d (2.66 a) |
| Mean orbital speed | 21.50 km/s |
| Inclination (i) | 11.879° |
| Longitude of the ascending node (Ω) | 171.418° |
| Argument of perihelion (ω) | 26.436° |
| Mean anomaly (M) | 49.408° |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 1.5? km |
| Mass | 3.5×1012 kg |
| Density | 2? g/cm³ |
| Surface gravity | 0.000 42 m/s² |
| Escape velocity | 0.000 79 km/s |
| Rotation period | ? d |
| Spectral class | C or S? |
| Absolute magnitude | 17.7 |
| Albedo | 0.15? |
| Mean surface temperature | ~198 K |
1221 Amor is the namesake of the Amor asteroids, a group of near-Earth asteroids whose orbits range between those of Earth and Mars. Amors are often Mars-crossers but they are not Earth-crossers.
Eugène Joseph Delporte photographed Amor as it approached Earth to within 16 Gm; this was the first time that an asteroid was seen to approach Earth so much. A month later, 1862 Apollo was seen to cross Earth's orbit, and the scientific community suddenly realised the potential threat these flying mountains presented.
Amor is named after the Roman god of love, better known as Cupid. See also 763 Cupido and 433 Eros, which is named after Cupid's Greek conterpart. Coincidentally, 433 Eros, like 1221 Amor, makes close approaches to Earth. It is a Mars-crosser as well.
| The minor planets |
| Vulcanoids | Main belt | Groups and families | Near-Earth objects | Jupiter Trojans |
| Centaurs | Trans-Neptunians | Damocloids | Comets | Kuiper belt | Oort cloud |
| (For other objects and regions, see: Binary asteroids, Asteroid moons and the Solar system) |
| (For a complete listing, see: List of asteroids. For pronunciation, see: Pronunciation of asteroid names.) |