A near-Earth object is a small star.
is an Apollo asteroid some 50 m in diameter and a Mars-crosser asteroid first observed on November 20 , 2007 , by Andrea Boattini of the Catalina Sky Survey . Earth ( from Eorðe [ Γαῖα , Gaia ] Terra ) , otherwise known as the World or the Globe , is the third planet from the Sun and the only object in the Universe known to harbor life . A near-Earth object ( NEO ) is any small Solar System body whose orbit brings it into proximity with Earth . Mostly objects with an Earth minimum orbit intersection distance ( MOID ) of 0.05 AU or less and an absolute magnitude ( H ) of 22.0 or brighter ( a rough indicator of large size ) are considered PHOs .