| Time of discovery of asteroids which came closer to Earth than the Moon in 2013 | ||
| ||
Below is the list of asteroid close approaches to Earth in 2013. This was the year of the Chelyabinsk impact, in addition to the other NEO flybys
| Time of discovery of asteroids which came closer to Earth than the Moon in 2013 | ||
| ||
Below is the list of asteroid close approaches to Earth in 2013. This was the year of the Chelyabinsk impact, in addition to the other NEO flybys
A list of known Near-Earth asteroid close approaches less than 1 lunar distance (384,400 km or 0.00257 AU) from Earth in 2013. [note 1]
Rows highlighted red indicate objects which were not discovered until after closest approach
Rows highlighted yellow indicate objects discovered less than 24 hours before closest approach
Rows highlighted green indicate objects discovered more than one week before closest approach
Rows highlighted turquoise indicate objects discovered more than 7 weeks before closest approach
Rows highlighted blue indicate objects discovered more than one year before closest approach (i.e.
objects successfully cataloged on a previous orbit, rather than being detected during final approach)
This list does not include any of the 24 objects that collided with earth in 2013, none of which were discovered in advance, but were recorded by sensors designed to detect detonation of nuclear devices. Of the 24 objects so detected, 5 had an impact energy greater than that of a 1 kiloton device including the 440 kiloton Chelyabinsk meteor, estimated at 20 m in diameter, which injured around 1500 people and damaged over 7000 buildings. [1] [2] [3]
| Date of closest approach | Date discovered | Object | Nominal geocentric distance (AU) [note 2] | Nominal geocentric distance (LD) | Size (m) (approximate) | (H) (abs. mag) | Closer approach to Moon | Refs [4] [5] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013-01-15 | 2013-01-20 | 2013 BR27 | 0.00145 AU (217,000 km ; 135,000 mi ) | 0.56 | 7-16 | 27.8 [6] | Yes | data · 2013 BR27 |
| 2013-01-28 | 2013-02-01 | 2013 CY | 0.00230 AU (344,000 km; 214,000 mi) | 0.89 | 6-13 | 28.3 [7] | data · 2013 CY | |
| 2013-02-05 | 2013-02-06 | 2013 CY32 | 0.00070 AU (105,000 km; 65,000 mi) | 0.27 | 6-14 | 28.1 [8] | data · 2013 CY32 | |
| 2013-02-11 | 2013-02-14 | 2013 CL129 | 0.00185 AU (277,000 km; 172,000 mi) | 0.72 | 5-12 | 28.4 [9] | Yes | data · 2013 CL129 |
| 2013-02-15 | 2012-02-23 | 367943 Duende | 0.0002276 AU (34,050 km; 21,160 mi) | 0.09 | 42-94 | 24.0 [10] | data · 2012 DA14 | |
| 2013-03-04 | 2013-03-02 | 2013 EC | 0.00245 AU (367,000 km; 228,000 mi) | 0.95 | 7-16 | 27.8 [11] | data · 2013 EC | |
| 2013-03-09 | 2013-03-07 | 2013 EC20 | 0.001003 AU (150,000 km; 93,200 mi) | 0.39 | 4-10 | 29.0 [12] | data · 2013 EC20 | |
| 2013-04-18 | 2013-04-19 | 2013 HT25 | 0.00036 AU (54,000 km; 33,000 mi) | 0.14 | 4-10 | 28.8 [13] | data · 2013 HT25 | |
| 2013-06-08 | 2013-06-06 | 2013 LR6 | 0.000742 AU (111,000 km; 69,000 mi) | 0.29 | 7-16 | 27.8 [14] | data · 2013 LR6 | |
| 2013-08-04 | 2013-08-04 | 2013 PJ10 | 0.00248 AU (371,000 km; 231,000 mi) | 0.96 | 32-71 | 24.6 [15] | data · 2013 PJ10 | |
| 2013-08-09 | 2013-08-07 | 2013 PS13 | 0.00136 AU (203,000 km; 126,000 mi) | 0.53 | 10-22 | 27.2 [16] | data · 2013 PS13 | |
| 2013-09-03 | 2013-09-02 | 2013 RG | 0.00151 AU (226,000 km; 140,000 mi) | 0.59 | 3-8 | 29.4 [17] | data · 2013 RG | |
| 2013-09-04 | 2013-09-05 | 2013 RO30 | 0.00194 AU (290,000 km; 180,000 mi) | 0.75 | 5-12 | 28.4 [18] | data · 2013 RO30 | |
| 2013-09-05 | 2013-09-03 | 2013 RF32 | 0.00112 AU (168,000 km; 104,000 mi) | 0.44 | 5-11 | 28.7 [19] | data · 2013 RF32 | |
| 2013-09-18 | 2013-09-13 | 2013 RZ53 | 0.00162 AU (242,000 km; 151,000 mi) | 0.63 | 2-4 | 31.1 [20] | data · 2013 RZ53 | |
| 2013-10-04 | 2013-10-05 | 2013 TR12 | 0.00143 AU (214,000 km; 133,000 mi) | 0.56 | 5-12 | 28.5 [21] | data · 2013 TR12 | |
| 2013-10-09 | 2013-10-10 | 2013 TL127 | 0.00251 AU (375,000 km; 233,000 mi) | 0.98 | 12-27 | 26.7 [22] | Yes | data · 2013 TL127 |
| 2013-10-21 | 2013-10-23 | 2013 UR1 | 0.00168 AU (251,000 km; 156,000 mi) | 0.65 | 7-16 | 27.6 [23] | Yes | data · 2013 UR1 |
| 2013-10-25 | 2013-10-24 | 2013 UX2 | 0.00100 AU (150,000 km; 93,000 mi) | 0.39 | 4-9 | 29.2 [24] | data · 2013 UX2 | |
| 2013-10-29 | 2013-10-25 | 2013 UV3 | 0.00189 AU (283,000 km; 176,000 mi) | 0.74 | 12-26 | 26.8 [25] | Yes | data · 2013 UV3 |
| 2013-11-08 | 2013-11-09 | 2013 VJ11 | 0.002283 AU (341,500 km; 212,200 mi) | 0.89 | 7-16 | 27.8 [26] | Yes | data · 2013 VJ11 |
| 2013-11-29 | 2013-11-28 | 2013 WH25 | 0.0009 AU (130,000 km; 84,000 mi) | 0.35 | 3-7 | 29.6 [27] | data · 2013 WH25 | |
| 2013-12-11 | 2013-12-12 | 2013 XS21 | 0.000484 AU (72,400 km; 45,000 mi) | 0.19 | 3-8 | 29.4 [28] | data · 2013 XS21 | |
| 2013-12-23 | 2013-12-23 | 2013 YB | 0.00018 AU (27,000 km; 17,000 mi) | 0.07 | 1-3 | 31.4 [29] | data · 2013 YB |
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.
Abs Magnitude 30 and greater
(size of a person for comparison)
Abs Magnitude 29-30
Absolute Magnitude 28-29
Absolute Magnitude 27-28
Absolute Magnitude 26-27
(probable size of the Chelyabinsk meteor)
Absolute Magnitude less than 25 (largest)
An example list of near-Earth asteroids that passed more than 1 lunar distance (384,400 km or 0.00256 AU) from Earth in 2013.
2012 KP24 (also written 2012 KP24) is a Chelyabinsk-sized near-Earth asteroid with an observation arc of only 5 days and has a modestly determined orbit for an object of its size. Around 31 May 2023 ±3 days it will pass between 0.19–24 lunar distances (73,000–9,200,000 km) from Earth. Nominally the asteroid is expected to pass 0.026 AU (3,900,000 km; 10 LD) from Earth and brighten to around apparent magnitude 21.6.
2013 TX68 is an Apollo asteroid and near-Earth object discovered on 6 October 2013 by the Catalina Sky Survey, during which it was near a close approach of 5.4 Lunar distances (LD) from the Earth. The asteroid only has a 10-day observation arc which makes long-term predictions of its position less certain. It was observed for three days as it approached Earth in the night sky starting with the sixth of October, 2013. Then it became unobservable by being between the Earth and the Sun, then not recovered due to its small size and dimness. Precovery images by Pan-STARRS from 29 September 2013 were announced on 11 February 2016 that extended the observation arc to 10 days. It was removed from the Sentry Risk Table on 11 February 2016, so there is no risk of impact from this object for the next hundred years or more. The asteroid was last observed on 9 October 2013.
2017 AG13 is a small Aten asteroid that made a close approach of 0.54 lunar distances from Earth on January 9, 2017. It was the largest asteroid to pass less than 1 lunar distance from Earth since 2016 QA2 on August 28, 2016. The Catalina Sky Survey observed it first on January 7, 2017, only two days before its closest approach. At its brightest, 2017 AG13 reached apparent magnitude 12.2. Shortly after, it moved too close to the Sun to be seen by telescopes.
2018 AH is a sub-kilometer asteroid, classified as near-Earth object of the Apollo group, approximately 100 m (300 ft) in diameter. It was first observed on 4 January 2018, by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) on Mauna Loa and quickly followed-up by many other surveys, with precovery observations found from Pan-STARRS and PTF from the day previous.
2018 CN2 is a very small asteroid, classified as a near-Earth object of the Apollo group, approximately 5 to 16 meters in diameter. It was first observed by astronomers of the Mount Lemmon Survey at Mount Lemmon Observatory, Arizona, on 8 February 2018, one day prior its close encounter with Earth at 0.18 lunar distances.
2018 DV1 is a micro-asteroid, classified as a near-Earth object of the Aten group, approximately 6–12 meters (20–40 feet) in diameter. It was first observed on 26 February 2018, by astronomers of the Mount Lemmon Survey at Mount Lemmon Observatory, Arizona, five days prior to its sub-lunar close encounter with Earth at less than 0.3 lunar distance.
2018 GE3 is a sub-kilometer asteroid on a highly eccentric orbit, classified as a near-Earth object of the Apollo group, approximately 48–110 meters (160–360 feet) in diameter. It was first observed on 14 April 2018, by astronomers with the Catalina Sky Survey one day prior to its sub-lunar close encounter with Earth at 0.5 lunar distance. It is one of the largest known asteroids (possibly the largest) in observational history to ever pass that close to Earth (also see list).
2020 LD is an Apollo near-Earth asteroid roughly 140 meters in diameter. It was discovered on 7 June 2020 when the asteroid was about 0.03 AU from Earth and had a solar elongation of 154 degrees. The glare of the Sun had masked the approach of the asteroid since November 2019. The asteroid passed closest approach to Earth on 5 June 2020 at a distance of 0.002 AU. The close approach distance is now known with an accuracy of roughly ± 1000 km. This is the largest asteroid to pass closer than the Moon this year and possibly the largest since (308635) 2005 YU55 in November 2011. The asteroid makes close approaches to Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. It will be brighter than apparent magnitude 24 until 18 July 2020.
2019 BE5 is a sub-kilometer near-Earth asteroid classified under the Aten group. It was discovered on 31 January 2019, by the Zwicky Transient Facility at the Palomar Observatory. The asteroid was discovered one day after it had made a close approach to Earth from a distance of 0.00784 AU (1.173 million km; 3.05 LD).
2013 in space | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Space probe launches  |
|    | ||||
| Impact events | ||||||
| Selected NEOs | ||||||
| Exoplanets |
| |||||
| Discoveries |
| |||||
| Novae | ||||||
| Comets | ||||||
| Space exploration |
| |||||
