Let’s learn about Near Earth Asteroid groups!

More than 7 months into our project, you all know what Near Earth Asteroids (NEAs) are and if not, here’s where you can find out: https://www.neorocks.eu/lets-learn-about-asteroids/

…but are there any differences between them? Yes, there are many!

For instance, they are classified in groups based on the geometry of their orbits. The groups are named after asteroids, whose orbits have specific characteristics.

Depending on the path they follow, NEAs are called:

• Amors – orbits exterior to Earth’s but interior to Mars’
• Apollos – Earth crossing orbits with semi-major axes larger than Earth’s
• Atens – Earth crossing orbits with semi-major axes smaller than Earth’s
• Atiras – orbits contained within the orbit of the Earth

If you want to learn more on these groups have a look here