closest approach
Minimum distance point
Closest approach is the point at which two objects in motion come nearest to each other before diverging again.
The term appears most often in astronomy, describing when a comet, asteroid, or spacecraft reaches its minimum distance from a planet or the sun: The asteroid's closest approach to Earth will occur Tuesday at 3 AM.
The concept applies to any trajectories—aircraft, ships, or particles—where timing and distance matter.
- flybyClose pass without landing
- rendezvousScheduled meeting at agreed location
- proximityNearness in space
- nearestClosest in distance
- near missNarrowly averted incident
orbit · orbital mechanics · trajectory · spacecraft · space probe · encounter · pass · graze · skim · brush · tangent · intercept · converge · distance · minimum · comet · asteroid · solar system
- space recordsnearest star
- moon distanceapogee, perigee, lunar orbit, farthest point
- orbital mechanicsorbital mechanics, eccentricity, inclination, apogee, perigee