(37655) Illapa Apollo
Discovered on 1 August 1994 by Shoemaker, C. S., Shoemaker, E. M. at Palomar.
Illapa was the thunder or weather god of the Incas. Hailing rain down from the celestial river (the Milky Way), Illapa fed the empire. According to legend, he would crack his sister's water jug with a slingshot, reverberating the echoes of thunder as water spilled forth from the sky, showering the parched lands below.Naming citation (20030106/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Illapa is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Illapa is 1.81 au from the Sun and 1.99 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 37655 |
| Provisional designation | 1994 PM |
| Orbit class | Apollo · near-Earth · potentially hazardous |
| Rotation period | 2.66 hours |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 17.85 |
| Orbital period | 1.80 years |
| Semi-major axis | 1.48 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 0.366 – 2.59 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.752 |
| Inclination | 18.0° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 0.0249 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.