List of asteroid close approaches to Earth in 2020

Below is the list of asteroid close approaches to Earth in 2020.

Timeline of known close approaches less than one lunar distance from Earth
A list of known near-Earth asteroid close approaches less than 1 lunar distance (0.0025696 AU) from Earth in 2020.

For reference, the radius of Earth is about 0.0000426 AU or 0.0166 lunar distances. Geosynchronous satellites have an orbit with semi-major axis length of 0.000282 AU or 0.110 lunar distances. A number of known asteroids came closer than this in 2020, notably 2020 CW, 2020 JJ, 2020 QG, and which all approached Earth within 0.05 lunar distances.

Two objects have been observed to be temporary satellites of Earth: in February 2020 and 2020 SO in September 2020, albeit the latter has been confirmed to be a rocket booster from the Surveyor 2 mission launched in 1966.

The largest asteroid to pass within 1 LD of Earth in 2020 was with an estimated diameter of around 145 meters and an absolute magnitude of 22.4. The fastest asteroid to pass within 1 LD of Earth in 2020 was that passed Earth with a velocity with respect to Earth of 33.4 km/s.

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. It shows the effectiveness of asteroid warning systems at detecting close approaches in 2021. 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 30 and greater (size of a person for comparison)

Absolute Magnitude 29-30

Absolute Magnitude 28-29

Absolute Magnitude 27-28

Absolute Magnitude 26-27

Absolute Magnitude 25-26 Absolute Magnitude less than 25 (largest)

Predicted close approaches
Below is the list of predicted close approaches of near-Earth asteroids larger than magnitude 27, that were predicted to occur in 2020. This relates to asteroid cataloging systems effectiveness at predicting close approaches in 2020.

For asteroids which were observed but not predicted, see the main list above. In 2020, at the outset of the year, no asteroids were predicted to pass within 1 lunar distance of Earth. Table omitted.

Additional examples


An example list of near-Earth asteroids that passed or will pass more than 1 lunar distance (384,400 km or 0.00256 AU) from Earth in 2020.