2135 Aristaeus (1977 HA) is an

Apollo asteroid The Apollo asteroids are a group of near-Earth asteroids named after 1862 Apollo, discovered by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth in the 1930s. They are Earth-crossing asteroids that have an orbital semi-major axis greater than that of the Earth ...

discovered on April 17, 1977, by E. F. Helin and S. J. Bus at Palomar Observatory. It is named for

Aristaeus A minor god in Greek mythology, attested mainly by Athenian writers, Aristaeus (; ''Aristaios'' (Aristaîos); lit. “Most Excellent, Most Useful”), was the culture hero credited with the discovery of many useful arts, including bee-keepin ...

, the son of Apollo and the nymph Cyrene. 2135 Aristaeus is a

potentially hazardous asteroid A potentially hazardous object (PHO) is a near-Earth object – either an asteroid or a comet – with an orbit that can make close approaches to the Earth and is large enough to cause significant regional damage in the event of impact. They are ...

(PHA) because its

minimum orbit intersection distance Minimum orbit intersection distance (MOID) is a measure used in astronomy to assess potential close approaches and collision risks between astronomical objects. It is defined as the distance between the closest points of the osculating orbits o ...

(MOID) is less than 0.05 AU and its diameter is greater than 150 meters. The Earth-MOID is . Its orbit is well-determined for the next several hundred years. The asteroid made its closest approach to Earth on April 1, 1977, at a nominal distance of . It will make its next closest approach on April 2, 2064, at a nominal distance of .

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* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Aristaeus 002135 002135 Discoveries by Schelte J. Bus Discoveries by Eleanor F. Helin Named minor planets 19770417