Asteroids which came closer to Earth than the Moon in 2014 by time of discovery Below is the list of asteroid close approaches to Earth in 2014.

Timeline of known close approaches less than one lunar distance from Earth in 2014 A list of known near-Earth asteroid close approaches less than 1 lunar distance (384,400 km or 0.00257 AU) from Earth in 2014, based on the close approach database of the Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS).

The CNEOS database of close approaches lists some close approaches a full orbit or more before the discovery of the object, derived by orbit calculation. The list below only includes close approaches that are evidenced by observations, thus the pre-discovery close approaches would only be included if the object was found by precovery, but there was no such close approach in 2014.

For reference, the radius of Earth is approximately or 0.0166 Lunar distances.The orbit of geosynchronous satellites, however, is or 0.110 Lunar distances. This year, 3 asteroids were detected which traveled nearer than this, most notably 2014 AA, which impacted into Earth's atmosphere and burnt up. This list and relevant databases do not consider impacts as close approaches, thus this list does not include predicted asteroid impacts or any of the other 32 objects that collided with Earth's atmosphere in 2014, none of which were discovered in advance, but were observed visually or recorded by sensors designed to detect detonation of nuclear devices.

Date ofclosestapproach Datediscovered Object Nominal geocentricdistance (AU)Distance from the center of Earth to the center of the object. See the NASA/JPL Solar System Dynamics Glossary: Geocentric. Earth has a radius of approximately 6,400 km.Nominal geocentricdistance (LD)Size (m)(approx.)(H)(abs. mag.) Closerapproachto Moon Refs 2014-01-01 2014-01-02 0.25 4.6–10 28.8 Yes 2014-01-08 2014-01-10 0.96 13–28 26.6 Yes 2014-01-09 2014-01-10 0.34 2.8–6.2 29.9 2014-01-10 2014-01-10 0.49 8.4–19 27.5 2014-02-21 2014-02-22 0.68 7.7–17 27.7 2014-03-05 2014-02-28 0.91 19–43 25.7 2014-03-06 2014-03-05 2014 EF 0.44 4.4–9.9 28.9 2014-03-06 2014-03-05 2014 EC 0.16 6.1–14 28.2 2014-03-09 2014-03-11 0.68 5.1–11 28.6 Yes 2014-03-30 2014-04-04 0.44 22–49 25.4 Yes 2014-04-03 2014-04-04 0.30 5.1–11 28.6 2014-05-03 2014-04-28 0.76 5.8–13 28.3 2014-05-07 2014-05-06 0.28 3.7–8.2 29.3 2014-05-10 2014-05-10 0.26 3.8–8.6 29.2 2014-05-26 2014-05-28 0.89 7–16 27.9 2014-05-28 2014-05-27 0.23 3.7–8.2 29.3 2014-06-03 2014-06-05 0.56 11–24 27 2014-06-03 2014-06-02 0.05 4–9 29.1 ? 2014-06-22 2014-06-24 0.64 10–23 27.1 Yes 2014-07-24 2014-07-25 0.52 4–9 29.1 2014-07-25 2014-07-26 0.70 4–9 29.1 2014-08-31 2014-09-01 2014 RA 0.15 4.4–9.9 28.9 2014-09-07 2014-09-01 2014 RC 0.10 11–25 26.9 2014-09-20 2014-09-20 0.21 4–9 29.1 2014-10-01 2014-10-02 2014 TL 0.26 7.3–16 27.8 2014-10-19 2014-10-24 0.68 5.1–11 28.6 2014-10-27 2014-10-25 0.43 8.8–20 27.4 2014-11-13 2014-11-17 0.57 2.2–4.9 30.4 Yes 2014-11-15 2014-11-17 0.87 10–23 27.1 Yes 2014-12-07 2014-11-24 0.98 3.2–7.1 29.6 Yes 2014-12-26 2014-12-27 0.91 16–36 26.1

Warning times by size

This sub-section visualises the warning times of the close approaches listed in the above table, depending on the size of the asteroid. The sizes of the charts show the relative sizes of the asteroids to scale. For comparison, the approximate size of a person is also shown. This is based the absolute magnitude of each asteroid, an approximate measure of size based on brightness.

Absolute magnitude H ≥ 30 (smallest) (size of a person for comparison)

Absolute magnitude 30 > H ≥ 29

Absolute magnitude 29 > H ≥ 28

Absolute magnitude 28 > H ≥ 27

Absolute magnitude 27 > H ≥ 26

Absolute Magnitude 26 > H ≥ 25

Absolute magnitude 25 > H (largest)

None

Notes

Timeline of close approaches less than one Lunar distance from the Moon in 2014

The number of asteroids listed here are significantly less than those of asteroids approaching Earth for several reasons: Asteroids approaching Earth not only move faster, but are brighter and are easier to detect with modern surveys due to these factors Asteroids approaching closer to Earth are higher priority to confirm, and only confirmed asteroids are listed with a lunocentric approach distance Those which make close approaches to the Moon are frequently lost in its glare, making them harder to confirm, and are more easily discovered during the new Moon, when the Moon is too close to the Sun for any asteroids to be detected while they are near to the Moon anyway.

These factors combined severely limit the amount of Moon-approaching asteroids, to a level many times lower than the detected asteroids to pass just as close to Earth instead. Date ofclosestapproach Object Nominal lunocentricdistance (AU)Distance from the center of the Moon to the center of the object. the Moon has a radius of approximately 1,740 km. Nominal lunocentricdistance (LD)Size (m)(approximate) (H) approachdistanceto Earth (LD) 2014-01-01 0.24 4–12 28.8 0.25 2014-01-02 2014 AA 0.93if 2014 AA had not hit Earth, it would have traveled much closer to the Moon 1–5 30.9 impact 2014-01-07 0.55 10–33 26.6 0.96 2014-01-08 0.95 7–23 27.4 1.50 2014-01-09 0.93 2–7 29.9 0.34 2014-01-10 0.85 7–22 27.5 0.48 2014-03-05 0.97 15–49 25.7 0.91 2014-03-06 2014 EC 0.9992 5–16 28.2 0.16 2014-03-09 0.64 4–13 28.6 0.68 2014-03-17 2014 FE 0.90 7–24 27.3 1.10 2014-03-29 0.097 18–57 25.4 0.43 2014-05-10 0.84 3–10 29.2 0.26 2014-05-28 0.67 3–9 29.3 0.23 2014-06-03 0.78 8–27 27.0 0.54 2014-06-04 0.42 3–10 29.1 0.043 2014-06-22 0.37 8–26 27.1 0.64 2014-08-31 2014 RA 0.79 4–11 28.9 0.15 2014-09-07 2014 RC 0.33 9–30 26.8 0.10 2014-09-20 0.80 3–10 29.1 0.21 2014-10-01 2014 TL 0.74 6–19 27.8 0.26 2014-10-27 0.53 7–23 27.4 0.43 2014-11-13 0.48 2–6 30.4 0.57 2014-11-15 0.70 8–26 27.1 0.86 2014-12-04 0.58 3–8 29.6 0.98

Notes

Additional examples

An example list of near-Earth asteroids that passed more than 1 lunar distance (384,400 km or 0.00256 AU) from Earth in 2014. (~300 meters in diameter) passed 6.2 lunar distances from Earth on 10 February 2014. (~200 meters in diameter) passed more than from Earth on 17–18 February 2014. (~3 meters in diameter) may have passed as close as 0.97 lunar distances (371,000 km) from Earth (0.68 lunar distances (261,000 km) from the Moon on either April 14 or 15th, 2014, but the nominal orbit calculates an approach of 1.29 lunar distances (495,000 km) from Earth (1.23 lunar distances (473,000 km) from the Moon). (~25 meters in diameter) passed 1.1 lunar distances from Earth on 3 June 2014.B. King - Asteroid 2014 KH39 Zips Just 1.1 LD from Earth - Universe Today (~325 meters in diameter) passed 3.25 lunar distances from Earth on 8 June 2014. (~75 meters in diameter) passed from Earth on 18 August 2014. (~230 meters in diameter) passed roughly from Earth on 1 September 2014. The orbit of 2009 RR (20–45 meters in diameter) with an observation arc of only 4 days predicted that it could pass just inside 1 lunar distance on 2014-09-16, but the orbital uncertainties show that it could have passed as much as from Earth. (~10 meters in diameter) passed 1.1 lunar distances from Earth on 23 September 2014. (~60 meters in diameter) passed 1.5 lunar distances from Earth on 24 October 2014.

See also List of asteroid close approaches to Earth List of asteroid close approaches to Earth in 2013 List of asteroid close approaches to Earth in 2015

References