1566 Icarus

1566 Icarus ( /ˈɪkərəs/ IK-ə-rəs) is an Apollo asteroid (a sub-class of near-Earth asteroid) that at perihelion comes closer to the Sun than Mercury, i.e. it is a Mercury-crossing asteroid. It is also a Venus and Mars-crosser. It is named after Icarus of Greek mythology, who flew too close to the Sun. It was discovered in 1949 by Walter Baade.

Icarus makes a close approach to Earth at gaps of 9, 19, or 38 years. Rarely, it comes as close as 6.4 Gm (16 lunar distances and 4 million miles), as it did on June 14, 1968. During this approach, Icarus became the first minor planet to be observed using radar, with measurements being performed from the Goldstone Tracking Station. As of 2012, the last close approach was in 1996, at 15.1 Gm, almost 40 times as far as the Moon. The next close approach will be June 16, 2015, at 8.1 Gm (5 million miles).