3554 Amun is an M-type

Aten asteroid The Aten asteroids are a dynamical group of asteroids whose orbits bring them into proximity with Earth. By definition, Atens are Earth-crossing asteroids . The group is named after 2062 Aten, the first of its kind, discovered on 7 January ...

(meaning it crosses Earth's orbit) and a

Venus-crosser A Venus-crosser is an asteroid whose orbit crosses that of Venus. There are 2,809

. It was discovered on 4 March 1986 by Carolyn and

Eugene Shoemaker Eugene Merle Shoemaker (April 28, 1928 – July 18, 1997) was an American geologist. He co-discovered Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 with his wife Carolyn S. Shoemaker and David H. Levy. This comet hit Jupiter in July 1994: the impact was televise ...

Mount Palomar Observatory Palomar Observatory is an astronomical research observatory in San Diego County, California, United States, in the Palomar Mountain Range. It is owned and operated by the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). Research time at the observat ...

. Its estimated

diameter In geometry, a diameter of a circle is any straight line segment that passes through the center of the circle and whose endpoints lie on the circle. It can also be defined as the longest chord of the circle. Both definitions are also valid for ...

is 3.341 kilometers, making it one of the smallest known M-type asteroids. Amun was the fifth Aten asteroid to be numbered. Amun was once considered metallic, based on its M-type spectrum. In ''

Mining the Sky ''Mining the Sky: Untold Riches from the Asteroids, Comets, and Planets'', is a 1997 book by University of Arizona Planetary Sciences professor emeritus John S. Lewis that describes possible routes for accessing extraterrestrial resources, either ...

'', planetary scientist John S. Lewis calculated the value of 3554 Amun at $20 trillion. (6178) 1986 DA is another M-type near-Earth asteroid with lower inclination that is actually metallic. Amun passes closest to Venus, and in 1964, 2034, and 2103 comes within 10 Gm of it.

References

External links

Economic value of asteroid 3554 Amun
* * * 003554 Discoveries by Eugene Merle Shoemaker Discoveries by Carolyn S. Shoemaker Named minor planets Earth-crossing asteroids 19860304 {{NE-asteroid-stub