1685 Toro is an Apollo asteroid

Apollo asteroid

The Apollo asteroids are a group of near-Earth asteroids named after 1862 Apollo, the first asteroid of this group to be discovered by Karl Wilhelm Reinmuth...

 that orbits the Sun

Sun

The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields...

 in an 8:5 resonance

Orbital resonance

In celestial mechanics, an orbital resonance occurs when two orbiting bodies exert a regular, periodic gravitational influence on each other, usually due to their orbital periods being related by a ratio of two small integers. Orbital resonances greatly enhance the mutual gravitational influence of...

 with Earth

Earth

Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...

, and a 13:5 resonance with Venus

Venus

Venus is the second planet from the Sun, orbiting it every 224.7 Earth days. The planet is named after Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty. After the Moon, it is the brightest natural object in the night sky, reaching an apparent magnitude of −4.6, bright enough to cast shadows...

. Because of this unusual orbit, it is sometimes referenced as "Earth's second satellite

Satellite

In the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an object which has been placed into orbit by human endeavour. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon....

".

Toro was discovered by Carl A. Wirtanen

Carl A. Wirtanen

Carl Alvar Wirtanen was an American astronomer who worked at Lick Observatory.He discovered periodic comet 46P/Wirtanen, as well as eight asteroids, including notably the Apollo asteroid 1950 DA, which may have a non-negligible probability of impacting the earth in the year 2880...

 at the Lick Observatory

Lick Observatory

The Lick Observatory is an astronomical observatory, owned and operated by the University of California. It is situated on the summit of Mount Hamilton, in the Diablo Range just east of San Jose, California, USA...

 in 1948. It was the third Apollo asteroid

Apollo asteroid

The Apollo asteroids are a group of near-Earth asteroids named after 1862 Apollo, the first asteroid of this group to be discovered by Karl Wilhelm Reinmuth...

 to be discovered. The name honours Betulia Toro, wife of the astronomer Samuel Herrick

Samuel Herrick (astronomer)

Samuel Herrick was an American astronomer who specialized in celestial mechanics and made important studies preceding the development of manned space flight.-External links:*University of California,...

. Herrick had studied the asteroid's orbit, and requested the name, along with that of 1580 Betulia

1580 Betulia

1580 Betulia is an Amor asteroid discovered on May 22, 1950 by Ernest Leonard Johnson at the Union Observatory, Johannesburg, South Africa...

.

Based on orbital paths, 1685 Toro is the best candidate for the source of the Sylacauga meteorite

Sylacauga (meteorite)

The Sylacauga meteorite fell on November 30, 1954 at 2:46pm near the town of Sylacauga, Alabama. Although officially known as the Sylacauga meteorite, it is often referred to as the Hodges meteorite because a fragment of it struck Ann Elizabeth Hodges .The Sylacauga meteorite is the first...

, the only meteorite known to have injured a human being, when it struck and bruised Mrs. Ann Hodges of Sylacauga, Alabama

Sylacauga, Alabama

Sylacauga is a city in Talladega County, Alabama, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 12,616.Nicknames for Sylacauga include: "The Marble City," "Buzzard's Roost" and "Sly Town"....

, on November 30, 1954.

External links

• NeoDys
• telnet://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov:6775 telnet for JPL Horizons, easier and more comprehensive than web version