Asteroids which came closer to Earth than the Moon in 2012 by time of discovery List of asteroid close approaches to Earth in 2012 is a listing of asteroids noted for their close approach to planet Earth

Timeline of close approaches less than one lunar distance from Earth in 2012 A list of known near-Earth asteroid close approaches less than 1 lunar distance (384,400 km or 0.00257 AU) from Earth in 2012, 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 2012.

This list and the relevant databases do not consider impacts as close approaches, thus this list does not include any of the objects that collided with Earth's atmosphere in 2012, 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.Size (m)(approximate)(H)(abs. mag.) Closerapproachto Moon Refs 2012-01-02 2011-12-31 2.9–6.5 29.8 2012-01-20 2012-01-18 1.7–3.8 31.0 Yes 2012-01-27 2012-01-25 8–18 27.6 2012-02-20 2012-02-22 7.3–16 27.8 2012-03-01 2012-03-02 4.6–10 28.8 2012-03-26 2012-03-24 7–16 27.9 2012-03-26 2012-03-25 5 30.2 2012-04-01 2012-03-13 37–82 24.3 2012-04-19 2012-04-21 6.1–14 28.2 2012-05-13 2012-05-12 2012 JU 5.8–13 28.3 2012-05-17 2012-05-16 2012 KA 5.2–12 28.6 2012-05-19 2010-05-23 19–43 25.7 2012-05-28 2012-05-23 14–30 26.4 2012-05-29 2012-05-28 4.2–9.4 29.0 2012-06-21 2012-06-23 1125 26.9 Yes 2012-10-07 2012-10-05 2012 TV 24–53 25.2 2012-10-09 2012-10-10 13–28 26.6 2012-10-12 2012-10-04 12–27 26.7 2012-11-12 2012-11-14 9.2–21 27.3 2012-11-14 2012-11-12 5.3–12 28.5 2012-12-11 2012-12-09 22–49 25.4 2012-12-14 2012-12-11 2–3 29.9 2012-12-15 2012-12-13 7.3–16 27.8

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)

Notes

See also List of asteroid close approaches to Earth List of asteroid close approaches to Earth in 2011 List of asteroid close approaches to Earth in 2013

References