A potentially hazardous object (PHO) is a near-Earth object – either an asteroid or a comet – with an orbit that can make close approaches to the Earth and is large enough to cause significant regional damage in the event of impact. They are defined as having a minimum orbital intersection distance with Earth of less than 0.05 astronomical units (19.5 lunar distances) and an absolute magnitude of 22 or brighter. More than 99% of the known potentially hazardous objects are not an impact threat over the next 100 years. Only about 20 potentially hazardous objects are listed on the Sentry Risk Table as objects that are known not to be a threat over the next hundred years are excluded. Over hundreds if not thousands of years, "potentially hazardous" asteroids have the potential for their orbits to evolve to live up to their namesake.

Most of these objects are potentially hazardous asteroids (PHAs), and a few are comets. As of November 2021 there are 2,223 known PHAs (about 8% of the total near-Earth population), of which 160 are estimated to be larger than one kilometer in diameter (see list of largest PHAs below). Most of the discovered PHAs are Apollo asteroids (1,730) and fewer belong to the group of Aten asteroids (171).A potentially hazardous object can be known not to be a threat to Earth for the next 100 years or more, if its orbit is reasonably well determined. Potentially hazardous asteroids with some threat of impacting Earth in the next 100 years are listed on the Sentry Risk Table. As of August 2021, only about 19 potentially hazardous asteroids are listed on the Sentry Risk Table. Most potentially hazardous asteroids are ruled out as hazardous to at least several hundreds of years when their competing best orbit models are sufficiently constrained, but recent discoveries whose orbital constraints are little-known have divergent or incomplete mechanical models until observation yields further data. After several astronomical surveys, the number of known PHAs has increased tenfold since the end of the 1990s (see bar charts below). The Minor Planet Center's website List of the Potentially Hazardous Asteroids also publishes detailed information for these objects.In May 2021, NASA astronomers reported that 5 to 10 years of preparation may be needed to avoid a potential impactor based on a simulated exercise conducted by the 2021 Planetary Defense Conference.