Near-Earth object facts for kids

Flyby of asteroid 2004 FH (centre dot being followed by the sequence). The other object that flashes by is an artificial satellite

Asteroid 4179 Toutatis is a potential hazard that passed within 2.3 lunar distances

A near-Earth object (NEO) is a Solar System object whose orbit brings it close to the Earth.

Their least distance from the Sun, their perihelion, is less than 1.3 AU. NEOs include near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) and near-Earth comets.

They include more than ten thousand near-Earth asteroids (NEAs), near-Earth comets, some solar-orbiting spacecraft, and meteoroids large enough to be tracked in space before striking the Earth. Collisions in the past have had a significant role in shaping the geological and biological history of the planet.

In some cases NEOs hit the Earth. Most of these meteors explode harmlessly in the upper atmosphere. But some NEOs are dangerous. We try to find out when one is going to hit Earth using impact prediction. On 30 June 1908, a meteorite of around 45 metres in diameter exploded over the basin of the Podkamennaya Tunguska River. It released an energy of 10–15 megatons of TNT and destroyed roughly 2,000 square kilometres of forest. Such an explosion, similar to one of the biggest nuclear weapons, could have razed London about as far out as the M25 ring road. However, because the location was remote, no deaths were recorded. The Association of Space Explorers estimates that a Tunguksa-like event happens two or three times every thousand years on average. An asteroid roughly 10 km in diameter is thought to have hit Earth 66 million years ago and caused the K/T extinction event, including the extinction of all non-avian dinosaurs.

Frequency of small asteroids ~1 to 20 meters in diameter hitting Earth's atmosphere

Related pages

• Near-Earth asteroid
• Asteroid impact prediction
• Late Heavy Bombardment

Near-Earth asteroids classification

Images for kids

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  1910 drawing of the path of Halley's Comet

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  The near Earth asteroid 433 Eros was visited by a probe in the 1990s

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  Known asteroids – as of January 2018 Video (0:55; July 23, 2018)

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  Radar image of asteroid 29075_{1950 DA}

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  NEOWISE – first four years of data starting in December 2013 (animated; April 20, 2018)
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  Cumulative discoveries of near-Earth asteroids known by size, 1980–2024

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  Asteroid Toutatis from Paranal

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  Known near-Earth asteroids by size

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  The five Lagrangian points relative to Earth and possible orbits along gravitational contours

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  Halley's Comet during its 0.10 AU approach of Earth in May 1910

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  J002E3 discovery images taken on September 3, 2002. J002E3 is in the circle

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  433 Eros as seen by NASA's NEAR probe

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  Image mosaic of asteroid 101955 Bennu, target of NASA's OSIRIS-REx probe

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  67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko as seen by ESA's Rosetta probe

See also

In Spanish: Objeto próximo a la Tierra para niños