Aten asteroid

The Aten asteroid group compared to the orbits of the terrestrial planets of the Solar System.

Mars (M)       Venus (V)       Mercury (H)

Sun       Aten asteroids       Earth (E)

The Aten asteroids are a group of near-Earth asteroids, named after the first of the group, 2062 Aten, discovered by Eleanor F. Helin on January 7, 1976. As of August 2015, there are 937 known Atens, of which more than a hundred are classified as potentially hazardous asteroids.

Aten asteroids are defined by having a semi-major axis of less than one astronomical unit (AU), the distance from the Earth to the Sun. They also have an aphelion (furthest distance from the Sun) greater than 0.983 AU. Asteroids' orbits can be highly eccentric. An Aten orbit need not be entirely contained within Earth's orbit, as nearly all known Aten asteroids have their aphelion greater than 1 AU although their semi-major axis is less than 1 AU. Observation of objects inferior to the Earth's orbit is difficult and this difficulty may be the cause of some sampling bias in the apparent preponderance of eccentric Atens. Aten asteroids account for only about 6% of the known near-Earth asteroid population. Many more Apollo-class asteroids are known than Aten-class asteroids, possibly because of the sampling bias.

The shortest semi-major axis for any known Aten asteroid is (325102) 2008 EY₅ at 0.626 AU. The Aten asteroid with the smallest known perihelion is also the one with the highest known eccentricity: (137924) 2000 BD19 has an orbit with an eccentricity of 0.895, which takes it from a perihelion of 0.092 AU, well within Mercury's orbit, to an aphelion of 1.66 AU. For a brief time near the end of 2004, the asteroid 99942 Apophis (then known only by its provisional designation 2004 MN₄) appeared to pose a threat of causing an Earth impact event in 2029, but earlier observations were found that eliminated that possibility. A very small possibility remained for 2036, but this was also eliminated.

There are also sixteen known Apohele asteroids, traditionally listed as a subclass of Atens, but generally regarded a separate class of their own. Unlike Atens, Apoheles permanently stay within Earth's orbit and do not cross it.

See also

• Astronomical survey
• Aten asteroids (category)
• Aten asteroid records
• Catalina Sky Survey
• List of numbered Aten asteroids
• Pan-STARRS