ASTEROID FLYBY0.7× MOON

Asteroid 2026 TU8 flew past Earth

Closest approach
Map: Asteroid 2026 TU8 flew past Earth

Asteroid 2026 TU8 passed Earth on Friday, October 9, 2026 at about 10:41 UTC, at 279,092 km (173,428 miles): 0.73 times the distance to the Moon, closer than the Moon itself. It was moving at 10.2 km/s (22,834 mph) relative to Earth and is about 4 to 9 meters (14 to 30 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 9 10:41 UTC
Distance279,092 km · 173,428 mi
Lunar distances0.73
Speed10.2 km/s · 22,834 mph
Size (est.)4–9 m
Brightness (H)29.0
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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 1.8 years. Astronomers first spotted it on October 9, 2026, just 0 days before its closest approach.

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?

Tunguska, 1908. In 1908 a space rock exploded over Tunguska, Siberia, flattening about 80 million trees across some 2,000 square kilometers.

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

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