ASTEROID FLYBY0.6× MOON

Asteroid 2026 TP35 flew past Earth

Closest approach
Map: Asteroid 2026 TP35 flew past Earth

Asteroid 2026 TP35 passed Earth on Sunday, October 11, 2026 at about 18:14 UTC, at 224,848 km (139,720 miles): 0.58 times the distance to the Moon, closer than the Moon itself. It was moving at 14.6 km/s (32,567 mph) relative to Earth and is about 5 to 10 meters (15 to 33 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 11 18:14 UTC
Distance224,848 km · 139,720 mi
Lunar distances0.58
Speed14.6 km/s · 32,567 mph
Size (est.)5–10 m
Brightness (H)28.8
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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 446 days. Astronomers first spotted it on October 11, 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?

Dust from space. Earth sweeps up dozens of tons of space dust and tiny meteoroids every day.

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

More: every space weather and near-Earth page · all events

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