Asteroids.
Passing through.
Small worlds. Enormous distances. Explore the next known encounters with Earth.
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3D illustration · Compressed distances · Enlarged bodies
All encounters ↓What comes past
- approaches in this selection
Data retrieved: -
This dataset is over two days old. New discoveries and orbit updates may be missing.
No known upcoming approaches in this selection. Choose a longer period or greater distance. An empty selection does not mean space is empty.
| Object | Close approach (TDB) | Distance | Diameter |
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How close is close?
One lunar distance, shortened to LD, is 384,400 kilometres. It is the average distance between the centres of Earth and the Moon. An approach at 0.5 LD is roughly half the distance to the Moon. It tells you nothing about the direction the object comes from.
The distance in the list is the predicted distance at the closest point, not where the asteroid is now. The sketch uses that distance and relative speed to show a straight line over 24 hours. Earth’s gravity and the true trajectory direction are not part of the sketch.
Size is often an estimate
Some objects have a reported diameter. For most, we show a range computed from brightness and two possible reflectivities, following CNEOS. A dark object needs to be larger than a bright one to reflect the same amount of light towards us. The range is an estimate, not a measured size or a statistical uncertainty.
A close approach is not an impact prediction. This page shows JPL’s approach catalogue. It does not calculate risk. NASA/JPL uses the separate Sentry system to assess possible future impacts.
The numbers and the drawing
Source: NASA/JPL SBDB Close Approach Data. We save a dataset covering the next 60 days, scheduled to refresh daily. Its retrieval time appears above the list. Only known asteroids within 20 LD are included; this is not a complete inventory of everything out there.
Time: JPL reports approaches in TDB, a time scale used in orbital calculations. We preserve that label. These are not local times, and new observations can change both the time and distance.
Uncertainty: the details show JPL’s minimum and maximum distance at 3 sigma. The size range is a different kind of estimate. See the CNEOS table for the original data.
3D illustration: Earth uses the same NASA-derived maps and MIT-licensed three.js renderer as the ISS and earthquake pages, adapted from ethanplusai/earth-moon-solar. Lighting, rock shape and the compressed scene are illustrative. Choose Distance map for a linear distance sketch. Neither view predicts the real incoming direction.
