Claim: A near-Earth object is a small star.
Evidence: A near-Earth object -LRB- NEO -RRB- is any small Solar System body whose orbit brings it into proximity with Earth.
A Small Solar System Body -LRB- SSSB -RRB- is an object in the Solar System that is neither a planet , nor a dwarf planet , nor a natural satellite.
This encompasses all comets and all minor planets other than those that are dwarf planets.
Thus SSSBs are : the classical asteroids with the exception of the dwarf planet Ceres ; the trojans ; and the centaurs and trans-Neptunian objects with the exception of Pluto , Haumea , Makemake , Eris , and others that may turn out to be dwarf planets.