Eros

Eros is a figure in ancient Greek mythology associated with love and desire. In many traditions he is the son of Aphrodite and Ares, though some early sources describe him as a primordial force. He is often depicted as a winged youth bearing a bow and arrows, with his arrows said to incite romantic or erotic attraction. In Roman mythology his counterpart is Cupid. Eros has appeared in a wide range of literature, art, and philosophy, and his character has been interpreted as representing both romantic love and broader forces of attraction.

Eros is also the name of the near-Earth asteroid 433 Eros. It was discovered in 1898 by Carl Gustav Witt at the Berlin Observatory and is classified as an Amor-type object, meaning its orbit brings it close to Earth without crossing its orbit. The asteroid has an elongated, irregular shape and is tens of kilometers across. It was studied extensively by NASA’s Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR Shoemaker) mission, which orbited Eros and later made a historic landing on its surface in 2001, returning detailed data on its composition and geology. The mission demonstrated the feasibility of visiting and studying small, rocky bodies in the inner solar system and greatly advanced understanding of near-Earth objects.

In summary, Eros denotes both a major mythological figure associated with love and a scientifically significant asteroid that has been explored by spaceflight.