List of asteroid close approaches to Earth in 2015

A list of known near-Earth asteroid close approaches less than 1 lunar distance (384,400 km or 0.00257 AU) from Earth in 2015, based on the close approach database of the Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS).{{cite web |url=https://cneos.jpl.nasa.gov/ca/ |title=NEO Earth Close Approaches |publisher=NASA/JPL CNEOS |access-date=27 February 2025 }}

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 2015.

This list and relevant databases do not consider impacts as close approaches, thus this list does not include any of the 43 objects that collided with Earth's atmosphere in 2015, none of which were discovered in advance, but were observed visually or recorded by sensors designed to detect detonation of nuclear devices.[https://cneos.jpl.nasa.gov/fireballs/ NASA.gov]

{{legend0|#ff9999|border=1px solid #ff9999|Rows highlighted red indicate objects which were not discovered until after closest approach}}

{{legend0|#ffff99|border=1px solid #ffff99|Rows highlighted yellow indicate objects discovered less than 24 hours before closest approach}}

{{legend0|#99ff99|border=1px solid #99ff99|Rows highlighted green indicate objects discovered more than one week before closest approach}}

{{legend0|#99ffff|border=1px solid #99ffff|Rows highlighted turquoise indicate objects discovered more than 7 weeks before closest approach}}

{{legend0|#bbccff|border=1px solid #bbccff|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 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)

File:Silhouette of man standing and facing forward.svg (size of a person for comparison)

{{#invoke:Chart

|pie chart

|radius = 11

|slices =

( 4 : After closest approach : red )

( 1 : < 24 hours before : yellow )

( 0 : up to 7 days before : lightgrey )

( 0 : > one week before : green )

( 0 : > 7 weeks before : turquoise )

( 0 : > one year before : blue )

|percent = true

|hide group legends = true

}}

Absolute magnitude 30 > H ≥ 29

{{#invoke:Chart

|pie chart

|radius = 17

|slices =

( 1 : After closest approach : red )

( 1 : < 24 hours before : yellow )

( 1 : up to 7 days before : lightgrey )

( 0 : > one week before : green )

( 0 : > 7 weeks before : turquoise )

( 0 : > one year before : blue )

|percent = true

|hide group legends = true

}}

Absolute magnitude 29 > H ≥ 28

{{#invoke:Chart

|pie chart

|radius = 27

|slices =

( 8 : After closest approach : red )

( 1 : < 24 hours before : yellow )

( 3 : up to 7 days before : lightgrey )

( 0 : > one week before : green )

( 0 : > 7 weeks before : turquoise )

( 0 : > one year before : blue )

|percent = true

|hide group legends = true

}}

Absolute magnitude 28 > H ≥ 27

{{#invoke:Chart

|pie chart

|radius = 43

|slices =

( 1 : After closest approach : red )

( 0 : < 24 hours before : yellow )

( 1 : up to 7 days before : lightgrey )

( 1 : > one week before : green )

( 0 : > 7 weeks before : turquoise )

( 0 : > one year before : blue )

|percent = true

|hide group legends = true

}}

Absolute magnitude 27 > H ≥ 26

{{#invoke:Chart

|pie chart

|radius = 68

|slices =

( 3 : After closest approach : red )

( 0 : < 24 hours before : yellow )

( 1 : up to 7 days before : lightgrey )

( 0 : > one week before : green )

( 0 : > 7 weeks before : turquoise )

( 0 : > one year before : blue )

|percent = true

}}

Absolute magnitude 26 > H ≥ 25

None

Absolute magnitude 25 > H (largest)

None

{{Reflist|group="note"}}

File:Skull2015-TB145.jpg

An example list of near-Earth asteroids that passed more than 1 lunar distance (384,400 km or 0.00256 AU) from Earth in 2015.

• {{mp|2015 AK|1}} (~50 meters in diameter) passed 5.57 lunar distances from Earth on 18 January 2015.{{cite web |url=http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2015AK1;cad=1#cad |title=JPL Small-Body Database Browser: (2015 AK1) |type=last observation: 2015-01-16}}
• {{mp|2015 BC}} (~60 meters in diameter) passed 1.64 lunar distances from Earth (1.50 lunar distances from the Moon) on 20 January 2015.{{cite web |url=http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2015BC;cad=1#cad |title=JPL Small-Body Database Browser: (2015 BC) |type=last observation: 2015-01-17}}
• {{mpl|(357439) 2004 BL|86}} (~700 meters in diameter) passed 3.1 lunar distances (1.2 million km) from Earth on 26 January 2015.
• {{mpl|2015 AZ|43}} (~70 meters in diameter) passed {{convert|0.0197|AU|km mi|abbr=on|lk=off}} from Earth on 15 February 2015.
• {{mpl|2014 YB|35}} (~500 meters in diameter) passed 11.7 lunar distances (4 million km) from Earth on 2015 Mar 27.
• {{mp|2015 FW|117}} (~110 meters in diameter) passed 3.6 lunar distances (1.38 million km) (3.2 lunar distances from the Moon) (1.21 million km) on 1 April 2015.
• {{mpl|2015 HM|10}} (~80 meters in diameter) passed 1.15 lunar distances (440,000 km) (1.08 lunar distances from the Moon) (410,000 km) on 7 July 2015.
• {{mp|2015 TQ|21}} (~15 meters in diameter) passed 1.005 lunar distances (390,000 km) on 7 October 2015
• 2014 UR (~20 meters in diameter) passed 3.81 lunar distances (1.46 million km) from Earth on 18 October 2015.
• {{mpl|2015 TB|145}} (~600 meters in diameter) passed 1.3 lunar distances (480,000 km) (0.74 lunar distances from the Moon) (286,000 km) on 31 October 2015.
• {{mp|2015 VO|142}} (~6 meters in diameter) passed 1.02 lunar distances (393,000 km) (0.85 lunar distances from the Moon) (327,000 km) on 24 November 2015
• Risk-listed asteroid {{mpl|2007 VE|191}} (~60 meters in diameter) was not observed when it probably passed roughly {{convert|0.5|AU|km mi|abbr=on|lk=off}} from Earth on 27 November 2015.
• 2015 YB initially calculated to make a close approach to Earth on 19 December 2015 turned out to be a much further away inner main-belt asteroid. On 31 December 2015 the asteroid received the designation {{mpl|2015 YU|9}}.

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.

{{Reflist|group="note2"}}

• List of asteroid close approaches to Earth
• List of asteroid close approaches to Earth in 2014
• List of asteroid close approaches to Earth in 2016

{{Reflist}}

• [http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19647 PIA19647: Asteroid 1999 JD6] (Radar imaged July 25, 2015)

{{2015 in space}}

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close approaches to Earth in 2015

Category:Near-Earth asteroids