Near-Earth object

A near-Earth object (NEO) is any small Solar System body orbiting the Sun whose closest approach to the Sun (perihelion) is less than 1.3 times the Earth–Sun distance (astronomical unit, AU).^[2] This definition applies to the object's orbit around the Sun, rather than its current position, thus an object with such an orbit is considered an NEO even at times when it is far from making a close approach of Earth. If an NEO's orbit crosses the Earth's orbit, and the object is larger than 140 meters (460 ft) across, it is considered a potentially hazardous object (PHO).^[3] Most known PHOs and NEOs are asteroids, but about a third of a percent are comets.^[1]

There are over 37,000 known near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) and over 120 known short-period near-Earth comets (NECs).^[1] A number of solar-orbiting meteoroids were large enough to be tracked in space before striking Earth. It is now widely accepted that collisions in the past have had a significant role in shaping the geological and biological history of Earth.^[4] Asteroids as small as 20 metres (66 ft) in diameter can cause significant damage to the local environment and human populations.^[5] Larger asteroids penetrate the atmosphere to the surface of the Earth, producing craters if they impact a continent or tsunamis if they impact the sea. Interest in NEOs has increased since the 1980s because of greater awareness of this risk. Asteroid impact avoidance by deflection is possible in principle, and methods of mitigation are being researched.^[6]

Two scales, the simple Torino scale and the more complex Palermo scale, rate the risk presented by an identified NEO based on the probability of it impacting the Earth and on how severe the consequences of such an impact would be. Some NEOs have had temporarily positive Torino or Palermo scale ratings after their discovery. Since 1998, the United States, the European Union, and other nations have been scanning the sky for NEOs in an effort called Spaceguard.^[7] The initial US Congress mandate to NASA to catalog at least 90% of NEOs that are at least 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) in diameter, sufficient to cause a global catastrophe, was met by 2011.^[8] In later years, the survey effort was expanded^[9] to include smaller objects^[10] which have the potential for large-scale, though not global, damage.

NEOs have low surface gravity, and many have Earth-like orbits that make them easy targets for spacecraft.^[11][12] As of December 2024, five near-Earth comets^[13][14][15] and six near-Earth asteroids,^{[16][17][18][19][20]} one of them with a moon,^[20] have been visited by spacecraft. Samples of three have been returned to Earth,^[21][22] and one successful deflection test was conducted.^[23] Similar missions are in progress. Preliminary plans for commercial asteroid mining have been drafted by private startup companies, but few of these plans were pursued.^[24]