NEOMIR: finding risky asteroids outshone by Sun. Asteroid 2023 NT1 passed within only 1/4 the distance to the moon and came closest to Earth on July 13, 2023, at 10:12 UTC12. The asteroid was first spotted on Saturday, two days after it made its closest approach to Earth2. Asteroid 2022 AE1 was also discovered and noted to be on a collision course with Earth for July 2023, but it will fly by Earth at a distance of about ten million kilometers34.