Apollo asteroid

Short description: Group of near-Earth asteroids

Common orbital subgroups of Near-Earth Objects (NEOs)

The Apollo asteroids are a group of near-Earth asteroids named after 1862 Apollo, discovered by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth in the 1930s. They are Earth-crossing asteroids that have an orbital semi-major axis greater than that of the Earth (a > 1 AU) but perihelion distances less than the Earth's aphelion distance (q < 1.017 AU).[1][2]

As of January 2025[update], the number of known Apollo asteroids is 21,083, making the class the largest group of near-Earth objects (cf. the Aten, Amor and Atira asteroids), of which 1,742 are numbered (asteroids are not numbered until they have been observed at two or more oppositions), 81 are named, and 2,130 are identified as potentially hazardous asteroids.[3][4]

The closer their semi-major axis is to Earth's, the less eccentricity is needed for the orbits to cross. The Chelyabinsk meteor, that exploded over the city of Chelyabinsk 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-class asteroid.[5][6]

Apollo asteroids are generally named after Greek deities.[7]

## Contents

* 1 List
* 2 See also
* 3 References
* 4 External links

## List

The largest known Apollo asteroid is 1866 Sisyphus, with a diameter of about 8.5 km. Examples of known Apollo asteroids include:

Designation | Year  | Discoverer/First observed[lower-alpha 1] | 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
(837253) 2013 FW13 | 2013 | CSS | MPC
2013 RH74 | 2013 | CSS | MPC
2011 MD | 2011 | LINEAR | MPC[lower-alpha 2]
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 the OSIRIS-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

1. ↑ A discoverer is determined by the MPC 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]
2. ↑ 2011 MD is classified as Amor, not Apollo asteroid by the MPC.

## See also

* Alinda group
* Amor asteroid
* Apollo asteroids (category)
* Apollo asteroid records
* Aten asteroid
* List of minor planets
* 2020 PP1

## References

1. ↑ "Near-Earth Object Groups". JPL – NASA. http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/neo/groups.html.
2. ↑ Weisstein, Eric. "Apollo Asteroid". Wolfram Research. http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/astronomy/ApolloAsteroid.html.
3. ↑ "Small-Body Database Query". NASA – California Institute of Technology. https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/tools/sbdb_query.html#!.
4. ↑ "List of Apollo Minor Planets". Center for Astrophysics. https://minorplanetcenter.net/iau/lists/Apollos.html.
5. ↑ Cantor, Matt (26 February 2013). "Scientists figure out Russia meteor's origin". USA Today. https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2013/02/26/meteor-russia-apollo-space/1948673/.
6. ↑ Jacob Aron (26 February 2013). "Russian meteor traced to Apollo asteroid family". New Scientist. https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn23213-russian-meteor-traced-to-apollo-asteroid-family/.
7. ↑ Phait, Phil (19 April 2021), "Apophis and Stargate", Bad Astronomy Newsletter (315), https://badastronomy.beehiiv.com/p/ban-315-apophis-and-stargate, retrieved 11 August 2025
8. ↑ The Spacewatch Project, Arizona Board of Regents, 2010, http://spacewatch.lpl.arizona.edu/, retrieved 2015-08-16

## External links

* List of Apollo minor planets

* v
* t
* e

Asteroids

Main|

* Notable asteroids
* Physical characteristics
* dynamic method
* Impact avoidance
* Tracking
* Capture
* Gravitational keyhole
* Earth-crosser
* Close approaches
* Binary
* moon
* contact
* P–L

Distribution|

* Interior to Earth
* vulcanoids
* Mercury-crossers
* Venus-crossers
* Main-belt
* Kirkwood gap
* comets
* Trojans
* Venus trojan
* Earth
* Mars
* Jupiter
* Uranus trojan
* Neptune trojan
* Near-Earth
* Aten
* Amor
* Apollo
* Apohele
* Earth-crossers
* Between Earth and the main belt
* Mars crossers
* Mars trojans
* Outer Solar System, does not include distant minor planets
* Jupiter-crossers
* Jupiter trojan

Classification|

| Orbital|

* Group
* Family
* (list)

|

Spectral|

| Tholen|

* C-group
* B-type
* F-type
* G-type
* C-type
* S-type
* X-group
* M-type
* E-type
* P-type
* small classes
* A-type
* D-type
* J-type
* T-type
* Q-type
* R-type
* V-type

|

SMASS|

* C-group
* B-type
* C-type
* Cg
* Ch
* Cgh
* Cb
* S-group
* A-type
* Q-type
* R-type
* K-type
* L-type
* S-type
* Sa
* Sq
* Sr
* Sk
* Sl
* X-group
* X-type
* Xe
* Xc
* Xk
* small types
* T-type
* D-type
* Ld-type
* O-type
* V-type

Exploration|

* Asteroid Redirect Mission
* Asteroids visited by spacecraft
* Mining
* Ceres
* Colonization
* Near-Earth Object Surveillance Mission

Lists|

* Near-Earth
* Minor planets
* Lost
* Discovering observatories
* Space missions

* See also: Asteroids in fiction
* Asteroids in astrology
* occultation
* Comet
* Minor planet

* Category

* v
* t
* e

Small Solar System bodies

Minor planets|

* Designation
* Groups
* List
* Moon
* Meanings of names

Asteroid|

* Aten asteroid
* Asteroid belt
* Family
* Jupiter trojan
* Near-Earth
* Spectral types

Distant minor planet|

* Centaur
* Damocloid
* Neptune trojan
* Trans-Neptunian object
* Detached
* Kuiper belt
* Oort cloud
* Scattered disc

Comets|

* Extinct
* Great
* Halley-type
* Hyperbolic
* Long-period
* Lost
* Main-belt
* Near-parabolic
* Periodic
* Sungrazing

Other|

* Meteoroids

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