ASTEROID FLYBY0.6× MOON

Asteroid 2026 TP2 flew past Earth

Closest approach
Map: Asteroid 2026 TP2 flew past Earth

Asteroid 2026 TP2 passed Earth on Monday, October 5, 2026 at about 18:20 UTC, at 228,464 km (141,967 miles): 0.59 times the distance to the Moon, closer than the Moon itself. It was moving at 9.7 km/s (21,654 mph) relative to Earth and is about 12 to 26 meters (39 to 87 feet) across, judging by its brightness. NASA’s orbit puts it safely past: it posed no risk of hitting Earth on this pass.

Closest approachOct 5 18:20 UTC
Distance228,464 km · 141,967 mi
Lunar distances0.59
Speed9.7 km/s · 21,654 mph
Size (est.)12–26 m
Brightness (H)26.8
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Its orbit

It is an Apollo asteroid: its orbit is larger than Earth’s but crosses it. It circles the Sun once every 429 days. Astronomers first spotted it on October 6, 2026, 1 days after it passed.

How often does this happen?

Small asteroids pass between Earth and the Moon every few weeks; most are only a few meters to tens of meters across and are found days before, or even after, they fly by. For scale, the rock that exploded over Chelyabinsk, Russia, in 2013 was about 18 meters across.

Did you know?

Fireballs every day. Several thousand fireballs, meteors brighter than Venus, flash through Earth’s atmosphere every day. Most happen over oceans or in daylight.

Data: NASA JPL Small-Body Database and CNEOS close approaches. Size assumes a reflectivity between 5 and 25 percent.

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