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Astronomy (thesaurus)

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Concept information

solar system > near-Earth object

Preferred term

near-Earth object  

Definition

  • A near-Earth object (NEO) is any small Solar System body whose orbit brings it into proximity with Earth. By convention, a Solar System body is a NEO if its closest approach to the Sun (perihelion) is less than 1.3 astronomical units (AU). If a 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). Most known PHOs and NEOs are asteroids, but a small fraction are comets. (Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Near-Earth_object)

Broader concept

Entry terms

  • NEO

In other languages

URI

http://data.loterre.fr/ark:/67375/MDL-DQG0MRJK-9

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