a comet or asteroid pushed by the gravitational attraction of nearby planets into an orbit that allows it to enter the earth's orbit and thereby pose a danger of collision. NEO
A comet or asteroid with an orbit or trajectory that comes near Earth's orbit, often drawn into such a path by the gravitational effect of the Earth and other planets. While there is currently no known near-Earth object on a collision course with Earth, collisions with such objects have taken place in the past and may be associated with mass extinctions such as those that took place at the end of the Permian and Cretaceous Periods.
near-earth object
American
[neer-urth]/ ˈnɪərˈɜrθ /
noun
Astronomy.
a comet or asteroid pushed by the gravitational attraction of nearby planets into an orbit that allows it to enter the earth's orbit and thereby pose a danger of collision. NEO
near-Earth object
Scientific
/ nîr′ûrth′ /
A comet or asteroid with an orbit or trajectory that comes near Earth's orbit, often drawn into such a path by the gravitational effect of the Earth and other planets. While there is currently no known near-Earth object on a collision course with Earth, collisions with such objects have taken place in the past and may be associated with mass extinctions such as those that took place at the end of the Permian and Cretaceous Periods.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any
opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Detlef Koschny, responsible for near-earth object activity at the ESA's Space Situational Awareness program, said separately that it was now possible to determine possible impact zones with just a few hours' notice.
