LIVE TRACKER · Sky & Space
Asteroid Tracker: Asteroids Passing Near Earth This Week
Which asteroids are passing close to Earth right now?
~0 m (bus-sized), passing at 8.7 km/s.
~0 m (bus-sized), passing at 9.3 km/s.
~0 m (bus-sized), passing at 14.6 km/s.
~0 m (bus-sized), passing at 3.9 km/s.
~0 m (bus-sized), passing at 19.2 km/s.
~0 m (bus-sized), passing at 13.8 km/s.
~1 m (bus-sized), passing at 8.9 km/s.
~0 m (bus-sized), passing at 16.8 km/s.
Source: NASA JPL CNEOS · LD = lunar distance (Earth–Moon ≈ 384,000 km) · sizes estimated from brightness.
"Asteroid passing Earth" headlines appear almost every week — and they're usually short on the one thing you actually want: how close, and should I care? This hub gives you the real numbers. The block above lists asteroids making close approaches to Earth over the coming weeks, straight from NASA's Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS), each with its closest distance, estimated size, and speed.
Open the live map and switch on the Asteroids & Fireballs layer to see recent fireball detections plotted worldwide, and toggle the close-approach panel for live countdowns.
How to read a close approach
The single most useful number is the closest distance, and we show it in lunar distances (LD) — multiples of the Earth–Moon gap (about 384,000 km). It reframes the scary-sounding headlines instantly:
- Under 1 LD — closer than the Moon. Genuinely close by space standards, and worth a look, but still a tracked, predicted miss.
- 1–5 LD — a near pass; common, and completely routine.
- 5–20 LD — close in astronomical terms, invisible to the eye, no cause for concern.
Alongside distance, each entry shows an estimated size (from the object's brightness) and its relative speed — these rocks move fast, often tens of kilometres per second. A countdown tells you how soon each pass happens.
Asteroids vs. fireballs — two different things
It's easy to conflate them, so the map keeps them distinct:
- Close approaches are asteroids passing through space near Earth. They never touch the atmosphere. That's the list above, looking ~60 days ahead.
- Fireballs are small rocks that did hit the atmosphere and burned up in a bright flash. These are the ☄ dots on the map, plotted where they entered, sized by energy released. The vast majority happen over the ocean or unpopulated areas and are seen by no one — the sensors catch them anyway.
Why the numbers should reassure, not alarm
The reason these passes can be listed so confidently is that the orbital mechanics are extraordinarily well understood. NASA can compute where a tracked asteroid will be, years out, to remarkable precision. A "close approach" making the news is almost always a routine, predicted event — the tracking is precisely why we can say it's a miss. The objects genuinely worth watching are the large ones, and those are catalogued and monitored far in advance.
If you're into watching the sky, this pairs naturally with the Sky Tonight hub — ISS passes, the next rocket launch, and what's overhead — and with the map's Satellites layer for thousands of tracked objects moving in real time.
Frequently asked questions
Is an asteroid going to hit Earth this week?
Almost certainly not. Every object in the list above is, by definition, passing by — NASA tracks these approaches precisely, and a 'close' approach in astronomical terms is usually still hundreds of thousands or millions of kilometres away. The list shows each asteroid's closest distance in lunar distances (LD), where 1 LD is the distance to the Moon. Anything in the single-digit-LD range is genuinely close by space standards but still a clean miss.
What does 'lunar distance' (LD) mean?
One lunar distance is the average distance from Earth to the Moon — about 384,000 km. It's a handy yardstick for close approaches: an asteroid passing at 5 LD is five times farther than the Moon. Objects passing inside about 1 LD are close enough to be notable, though even those are still tracked as safe passes.
How big are these asteroids?
They range from a few metres to hundreds of metres across. The size shown for each is estimated from its brightness (absolute magnitude), so it's approximate — a darker object is bigger than a bright one at the same magnitude. Most close-approaching objects are small; the genuinely large ones are rare and tracked years in advance.
What are the fireballs on the map?
Those are recent atmospheric fireballs — small space rocks that hit Earth's atmosphere and burned up in a bright flash, detected by sensors and logged by NASA. They're unrelated to the asteroid close-approach list (which stays in space); they're plotted where they entered the atmosphere, sized by the energy released. Most happen over the ocean and are never seen by anyone.
How often does this update?
NASA's close-approach and fireball data refresh regularly, and this tracker updates on top of that. The close-approach list looks ahead about 60 days, so it changes as near passes happen and new ones come into range.
SEE IT LIVE
Everything in this guide is on one real-time map.