Aten group

A Dictionary of Astronomy | 1997 | 700+ words | Copyright

Aten group A group of asteroids that cross the Earth's orbit, and whose average distances from the Sun are less than that of Earth; along with the more abundant Apollo group, they are termed Earth-crossing asteroids. Their aphelia are greater than 0.983 AU (Earth's perihelion distance) and their orbital periods are shorter than 1 year. The group is named after (2062) Aten, the first of the group to be discovered, by the American astronomer Eleanor Kay Helin, Francis, in 1976. It is an S-class asteroid of diameter 0.9 km. Aten's orbit has a semimajor axis of 0.967 AU, period 0.95 years, perihelion 0.79 AU, aphelion 1.14 AU, and inclination 18°.9. The largest known member of the Aten group is (3753) Cruithne, diameter 3 km, and the second-largest is Ra-Shalom.

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