1221 Amor

1221 Amor
Discovery
Who	Eugène Joseph Delporte
When	March 12, 1932
Alternate Designation(s)	1932 EA1
Orbital Characteristics
Category	Amor asteroid
Semi-Major Axis	287.207 Gm (1.920 AU)
Perihelion	162.403 Gm (1.086 AU)
Aphelion	412.011 Gm (2.754 AU)
Eccentricity	0.435
Revolution Period	971.635 d (2.66 yr)
Inclination	11.879°
Mean Orbital Speed	21.50 km/s
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	~273 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.

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