Near-Earth object focused on asteroids and short-period comets. CNEOS even restricts its definition of NECs to short-period comets—, 107 such objects have been discovered. , only 20 comets have been observed to pass within of Earth, including 10 which are or have been short-period comets. Two of these comets, Halley's Comet and 73P/Schwassmann–Wachmann, have been observed during multiple close approaches. The closest observed approach was 0.0151 AU (5.88 LD) for Lexell's Comet on July 1, 1770. After an orbit change due to a close approach of Jupiter in 1779, this object is no longer a NEC. The closest approach ever observed for
Orbit determination the returned signal strength from radar decreases rapidly, as the inverse fourth power of the range to the object. This limits radar observations to objects relatively near the Earth, such as artificial satellites and Near-Earth objects. Orbit determination must take into account that the apparent celestial motion of the body is influenced by the observer's own motion. For instance, an observer on Earth tracking an asteroid must take into account both the motion of the Earth around the Sun, the rotation of the Earth, and the observer's local latitude and longitude, as these affect the apparent position of the body.