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Amor

The Amor asteroids are a group of near-Earth asteroids named after the asteroid 1221 Amor[?], the first such asteroid to be discovered. They have average orbital diameters in between the orbits of Earth and Mars. Amors often cross the orbit of Mars, but they do not cross the orbit of Earth. The two moons of Mars, Deimos and Phobos, appear to be Amor asteroids that were captured by the Red Planet.

Also a member of this group is the asteroid 433 Eros, which was the first asteroid to be orbited and then landed upon by a human probe (NEAR Shoemaker).


Amor ("love") was also an alternate name for Cupid, the Roman god of love. He was equivalent to Eros in Greek mythology, which see for more details.



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