What You Need To Know About Asteroids and Other Near-Earth Objects

Here’s what you need to know about near-Earth objects.

Our solar system is littered with asteroids and comets, and sometimes they get a little close to Earth.

But no need to worry.

This happens all the time.

When an asteroid or comet could come close to our planet, it’s known as a near-Earth object, AKA NEO.

But how close is “close”?

A near-Earth object is defined as an object that could pass by our Earth within 30 million miles!

NASA begins to keep close watch on objects that could pass within 5 million miles of our planet. To put that in perspective, our Moon is only 238,900 miles away.

However unlikely an impact is, NASA wants to know about all near-Earth objects.

The space agency’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office maintains watch for asteroids and comets coming close to Earth in order to warn of.

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