The Apollo asteroids are a group of near-Earth asteroids named after 1862 Apollo

1862 Apollo

1862 Apollo is a Q-type asteroid, discovered by Karl Reinmuth in 1932, but lost and not recovered until 1973. It is named after the Greek god Apollo....

, the first asteroid

Asteroid

Asteroids are a class of small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun. They have also been called planetoids, especially the larger ones...

 of this group to be discovered by Karl Wilhelm Reinmuth

Karl Wilhelm Reinmuth

Karl Wilhelm Reinmuth was a German astronomer.He was a prolific discoverer of asteroids , beginning with 796 Sarita in 1914, working at the Landessternwarte Heidelberg-Königstuhl astronomical observatory on the Königstuhl hill above Heidelberg, Germany from 1912 to 1957.His most notable...

. They are Earth-crosser asteroid

Earth-crosser asteroid

An Earth-crosser is a near-Earth asteroid whose orbit crosses that of Earth as observed from the ecliptic pole of Earth's orbit. The known numbered Earth-crossers are listed here. Those Earth-crossers whose semi-major axes are smaller than Earth's are Aten asteroids; the remaining ones are Apollo...

s that have orbital semi-major axes greater than that of the Earth

Earth

Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...

 (> 1 AU

Astronomical unit

An astronomical unit is a unit of length equal to about or approximately the mean Earth–Sun distance....

) and a perihelion distance (q) < 1.017 AU

Astronomical unit

An astronomical unit is a unit of length equal to about or approximately the mean Earth–Sun distance....

. Some can get very close to the Earth, making them a potential threat to our planet (the closer their semi-major axis is to Earth's, the less eccentricity is needed for the orbit

Orbit

In physics, an orbit is the gravitationally curved path of an object around a point in space, for example the orbit of a planet around the center of a star system, such as the Solar System...

s to cross).

The largest known Apollo asteroid is 1866 Sisyphus

1866 Sisyphus

1866 Sisyphus is a binary Apollo asteroid which, at approximately 10 km in diameter, is the largest of the Earth-crossing asteroids. It is comparable in size to the Chicxulub object whose impact may have killed off the dinosaurs....

, with a diameter of about 10 km.

Well-known Apollo asteroids include:

Name	Year	Discoverer
2011 MD 2011 MD 2011 MD is an Apollo asteroid that passed relatively close to Earth's surface — at a distance of about , roughly the diameter of the Earth — at around 17:00 UTC on June 27, 2011...	2011	LINEAR Linear In mathematics, a linear map or function f is a function which satisfies the following two properties:* Additivity : f = f + f...
2010 AL30 2010 AL30 ' is a near-Earth asteroid that was discovered on 10 January 2010.Italian scientists Ernesto Guido and Giovanni Sostero told RIA Novosti that it had an orbital period of almost exactly one year and might be a spent rocket booster...	2010	LINEAR Linear In mathematics, a linear map or function f is a function which satisfies the following two properties:* Additivity : f = f + f...
	2009
	2009	Siding Spring Observatory, Australia
	2008	Catalina Sky Survey Catalina Sky Survey Catalina Sky Survey is a project to discover comets and asteroids, and to search for Near-Earth objects. More specifically, to search for potentially hazardous asteroids , that may pose a threat of impact.-Mission:...
	2007	Catalina Sky Survey Catalina Sky Survey Catalina Sky Survey is a project to discover comets and asteroids, and to search for Near-Earth objects. More specifically, to search for potentially hazardous asteroids , that may pose a threat of impact.-Mission:...
	2007	Catalina Sky Survey Catalina Sky Survey Catalina Sky Survey is a project to discover comets and asteroids, and to search for Near-Earth objects. More specifically, to search for potentially hazardous asteroids , that may pose a threat of impact.-Mission:...
	2007	Catalina Sky Survey Catalina Sky Survey Catalina Sky Survey is a project to discover comets and asteroids, and to search for Near-Earth objects. More specifically, to search for potentially hazardous asteroids , that may pose a threat of impact.-Mission:...
	2006	Spacewatch Spacewatch Spacewatch is a project at the University of Arizona led by Robert S. McMillan that specializes in the study of minor planets, including various types of asteroids and comets...
	2006	Spacewatch Spacewatch Spacewatch is a project at the University of Arizona led by Robert S. McMillan that specializes in the study of minor planets, including various types of asteroids and comets...
	2005
	2005
	2004	LINEAR Linear In mathematics, a linear map or function f is a function which satisfies the following two properties:* Additivity : f = f + f...
	2004	LINEAR Linear In mathematics, a linear map or function f is a function which satisfies the following two properties:* Additivity : f = f + f...
	2002	LINEAR Linear In mathematics, a linear map or function f is a function which satisfies the following two properties:* Additivity : f = f + f...
	1999	LINEAR Linear In mathematics, a linear map or function f is a function which satisfies the following two properties:* Additivity : f = f + f...
	1998	Spacewatch Spacewatch Spacewatch is a project at the University of Arizona led by Robert S. McMillan that specializes in the study of minor planets, including various types of asteroids and comets...
	1997	LINEAR Linear In mathematics, a linear map or function f is a function which satisfies the following two properties:* Additivity : f = f + f...
69230 Hermes 69230 Hermes -External links:* * *...	1937	Karl Reinmuth
	1999	LINEAR Linear In mathematics, a linear map or function f is a function which satisfies the following two properties:* Additivity : f = f + f...
	1998	LINEAR Linear In mathematics, a linear map or function f is a function which satisfies the following two properties:* Additivity : f = f + f...
	1997	Spacewatch Spacewatch Spacewatch is a project at the University of Arizona led by Robert S. McMillan that specializes in the study of minor planets, including various types of asteroids and comets...
25143 Itokawa 25143 Itokawa 25143 Itokawa is an Apollo and Mars-crosser asteroid. It was the first asteroid to be the target of a sample return mission, the Japanese space probe Hayabusa.-Discovery and naming:...	1998	LINEAR Linear In mathematics, a linear map or function f is a function which satisfies the following two properties:* Additivity : f = f + f...
1994 CC	1994	Spacewatch Spacewatch Spacewatch is a project at the University of Arizona led by Robert S. McMillan that specializes in the study of minor planets, including various types of asteroids and comets...
	1996	R. H. McNaught, Siding Spring Observatory, Australia
6489 Golevka 6489 Golevka 6489 Golevka is an Apollo, Mars-crosser and Alinda asteroid, discovered in 1991 by Eleanor F. Helin.Its name has a complicated origin. In 1995, Golevka was studied simultaneously by three radar observatories across the world: Goldstone in California, Yevpatoria RT-70 radio telescope in Ukraine and...	1991	Eleanor F. Helin Eleanor F. Helin Eleanor Francis "Glo" Helin was an American astronomer. She was principal investigator of the Near Earth Asteroid Tracking program of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Some sources give her name as Eleanor Kay Helin...
4769 Castalia 4769 Castalia The asteroid 4769 Castalia was the first asteroid to be modeled by radar imaging. It is an Apollo, Mars- and Venus-crosser asteroid. It was discovered on August 9, 1989, by Eleanor F. Helin on photographic plates taken at Palomar Observatory...	1989	Eleanor F. Helin Eleanor F. Helin Eleanor Francis "Glo" Helin was an American astronomer. She was principal investigator of the Near Earth Asteroid Tracking program of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Some sources give her name as Eleanor Kay Helin...
4660 Nereus 4660 Nereus 4660 Nereus is a small asteroid. It was discovered by Eleanor F. Helin on February 28, 1982, approximately 1 month after a near pass by the Earth. It is named after Nereus, a Titan in Greek mythology.Nereus is potentially a very important asteroid...	1982	Eleanor F. Helin Eleanor F. Helin Eleanor Francis "Glo" Helin was an American astronomer. She was principal investigator of the Near Earth Asteroid Tracking program of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Some sources give her name as Eleanor Kay Helin...
4581 Asclepius 4581 Asclepius -External links:* from JPL /...	1989	Henry E. Holt Henry E. Holt Henry E. Holt is an American astronomer.He has discovered numerous asteroids. He is also a co-discoverer of periodic comets 121P/Shoemaker-Holt, 127P/Holt-Olmstead and 128P/Shoemaker-Holt.... , Norman G. Thomas Norman G. Thomas Norman G. Thomas is an American astronomer.He worked at Lowell Observatory using the blink comparator alongside Robert Burnham, Jr., author of the famous three-volume Celestial Handbook....
4486 Mithra 4486 Mithra 4486 Mithra is an Apollo and Mars-crosser asteroid. It was discovered by Eric Elst and Vladimir Shkodrov on September 22, 1987. It is named after Mithra, Indo-Iranian god of light. In Asia Minor around 330 B.C...	1987	Eric Elst, Vladimir Shkodrov Vladimir Shkodrov Prof. Dr. Vladimir Georgiev Shkodrov was a Bulgarian astronomer.Shkodrov discovered a number of asteroids, including the Apollo asteroid 4486 Mithra, which he and Eric Elst discovered on 22 September 1987. 4486 Mithra is notable as the most highly bifurcated object in the Solar System...
(4197) 1982 TA (4197) 1982 TA 1982 TA was discovered on October 11, 1982, by Eleanor F. Helin and Eugene Shoemaker. It is an Apollo, Mars- and Venus-crosser asteroid, only 1.7 km in diameter....	1982	Eleanor F. Helin Eleanor F. Helin Eleanor Francis "Glo" Helin was an American astronomer. She was principal investigator of the Near Earth Asteroid Tracking program of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Some sources give her name as Eleanor Kay Helin... , Eugene Shoemaker
4183 Cuno 4183 Cuno 4183 Cuno is an Apollo, Mars- and Venus-crosser asteroid. It was discovered in 1959 by Cuno Hoffmeister, from whom the asteroid takes its name....	1959	Cuno Hoffmeister Cuno Hoffmeister Cuno Hoffmeister was a German astronomerand founder of Sonneberg Observatory.Born in Sonneberg in 1892, Hoffmeister obtained his first telescope in 1905 and became an avid amateur astronomer. After his father lost most of his money in 1914, Hoffmeister had to leave school in 1916 to start an...
4179 Toutatis 4179 Toutatis 4179 Toutatis/1989 AC is an Apollo, Alinda, and Mars-crosser asteroid with a chaotic orbit produced by a 3:1 resonance with the planet Jupiter, a 1:4 resonance with the planet Earth, and frequent close approaches to the terrestrial planets...	1989	Christian Pollas Christian Pollas Christian Pollas is a French astronomer.He has discovered tens of asteroids, some co-discovered with Eric W. Elst, including notably the Aten asteroid 1989 UQ, the Apollo asteroid 4179 Toutatis, and the Amor asteroid 1990 VB....
4015 Wilson-Harrington	1979	Eleanor F. Helin Eleanor F. Helin Eleanor Francis "Glo" Helin was an American astronomer. She was principal investigator of the Near Earth Asteroid Tracking program of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Some sources give her name as Eleanor Kay Helin...
3200 Phaethon 3200 Phaethon 3200 Phaethon is an asteroid with an unusual orbit that brings it closer to the Sun than any other named asteroid . For this reason, it was named after the Greek myth of Phaëton, son of the sun god Helios...	1983	Simon F. Green Simon F. Green Dr. Simon F. Green is an astronomer. He is a Senior Lecturer in Planetary and Space Science at the Open University. He specializes in the study of asteroids and trans-Neptunian objects, and for a long time worked with the IRAS satellite to detect fast moving objects. In 1983, along with John K.... , John K.Davies John K.Davies -Discovery:Whilst at Leicester University discovered the source of the Geminid meteors , the asteroid called 3200 Phaethon.-OPTICON project:In 2001 he began as Project Scientist for the OPTICON project, an organisation with the goal of integrating all of European astronomers....  / IRAS IRAS The Infrared Astronomical Satellite was the first-ever space-based observatory to perform a survey of the entire sky at infrared wavelengths....
2063 Bacchus 2063 Bacchus The Apollo, Venus- and Mars-crosser asteroid 2063 Bacchus was discovered on April 24, 1977, by Charles T. Kowal at the Palomar Observatory. In March 1996 radar observations of the asteroid were conducted at the Goldstone Observatory under the direction of JPL scientists Steven Ostro and Lance...	1977	Charles T. Kowal Charles T. Kowal Charles Thomas Kowal was an American astronomer.He discovered two moons of Jupiter: Leda in 1974 and Themisto in 1975, although the latter was lost and not rediscovered until 2000....
1866 Sisyphus 1866 Sisyphus 1866 Sisyphus is a binary Apollo asteroid which, at approximately 10 km in diameter, is the largest of the Earth-crossing asteroids. It is comparable in size to the Chicxulub object whose impact may have killed off the dinosaurs....	1972	Paul Wild Paul Wild (Swiss astronomer) Professor Paul Wild of Berne, Switzerland, is an astronomer who discovered numerous comets and asteroids.- Career :Professor Wild was director of the Astronomical Institute of the University of Berne from 1980 to 1991...
1620 Geographos 1620 Geographos The asteroid 1620 Geographos was discovered on September 14, 1951 at the Palomar Observatory by Albert George Wilson and Rudolph Minkowski. It was originally given the provisional designation 1951 RA...	1951	Albert George Wilson Albert George Wilson Albert George Wilson is an American astronomer.He was born in Houston, Texas. He received his Ph.D. in mathematics from Caltech in 1947; his thesis title was Axially Symmetric Thermal Stresses in a Semi-Infinite Solid.... , Rudolph Minkowski Rudolph Minkowski Rudolph Minkowski was a German-American astronomer. His father was the physiologist Oskar Minkowski and his uncle was Hermann Minkowski....
(29075) 1950 DA (29075) 1950 DA -External links:* from JPL /...	1950	Carl A. Wirtanen Carl A. Wirtanen Carl Alvar Wirtanen was an American astronomer who worked at Lick Observatory.He discovered periodic comet 46P/Wirtanen, as well as eight asteroids, including notably the Apollo asteroid 1950 DA, which may have a non-negligible probability of impacting the earth in the year 2880...
1566 Icarus 1566 Icarus 1566 Icarus is an Apollo asteroid that at perihelion comes closer to the Sun than Mercury, i.e. it is a Mercury-crossing asteroid. It is also a Venus and Mars-crosser. It is named after Icarus of Greek mythology, who flew too close to the Sun...	1949	Walter Baade Walter Baade Wilhelm Heinrich Walter Baade was a German astronomer who worked in the USA from 1931 to 1959.-Biography:He took advantage of wartime blackout conditions during World War II, which reduced light pollution at Mount Wilson Observatory, to resolve stars in the center of the Andromeda galaxy for the...
1685 Toro 1685 Toro 1685 Toro is an Apollo asteroid that orbits the Sun in an 8:5 resonance with Earth, and a 13:5 resonance with Venus. Because of this unusual orbit, it is sometimes referenced as "Earth's second satellite"....	1948	Carl A. Wirtanen Carl A. Wirtanen Carl Alvar Wirtanen was an American astronomer who worked at Lick Observatory.He discovered periodic comet 46P/Wirtanen, as well as eight asteroids, including notably the Apollo asteroid 1950 DA, which may have a non-negligible probability of impacting the earth in the year 2880...
2101 Adonis 2101 Adonis 2101 Adonis was one of the first near-Earth asteroids to be discovered. It was discovered by Eugene Delporte in 1936 and named after Adonis, the beautiful youth with whom the goddess Venus fell in love...	1936	Eugène Joseph Delporte Eugène Joseph Delporte Eugène Joseph Delporte was a Belgian astronomer.-Discoveries:He discovered a total of sixty-six asteroids. Notable discoveries include 1221 Amor and the Apollo asteroid 2101 Adonis. He discovered or co-discovered some comets as well, including periodic comet 57P/du Toit-Neujmin-Delporte...
1862 Apollo 1862 Apollo 1862 Apollo is a Q-type asteroid, discovered by Karl Reinmuth in 1932, but lost and not recovered until 1973. It is named after the Greek god Apollo....	1932	Karl Reinmuth

See also

Apollo asteroids (category)

• Apollo asteroid records
  Apollo asteroid records
  - Size records :* Largest: 1866 Sisyphus* Smallest: 2008 TC3 , 2003 SQ222- Orbit element records :* Smallest Perihelion: 2004 FN8* Smallest Semi-Major Axis: 2004 GU9* Smallest Aphelion: 1991 VG...
  
  

External links

• List of Apollo minor planets