Apollo asteroid
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The Apollo asteroids are a group of near-Earth asteroids named after 1862 Apollo, the first asteroid of this group to be discovered. They are Earth-crosser asteroids that have orbital semi-major axes greater than that of the Earth. 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 orbits to cross).
The largest known Apollo asteroid is 1866 Sisyphus, with a diameter of about 10 km, approximately the size of the object which created the Chicxulub crater whose impact is presumed to have led to the extinction of the dinosaurs.
Well-known Apollo asteroids include:
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External links
The minor planetsedit |
Vulcanoids | Near-Earth asteroids | Main belt | Jupiter Trojans | Centaurs | Damocloids | Comets | Trans-Neptunians (Kuiper belt · Scattered disc · Oort cloud) |
For other objects and regions, see: asteroid groups and families, binary asteroids, asteroid moons and the Solar system For a complete listing, see: List of asteroids. See also Pronunciation of asteroid names and Meanings of asteroid names. |
cs:Apollonova skupina da:Apollo-asteroide et:Apollo-tüüpi asteroidid es:Asteroides Apolo fr:Astéroïde Apollo pl:Grupa Apollo pt:Asteróide Apollo sk:Skupina Apollo