ASTEROID FLYBY0.1× MOON

Asteroid 2026 TN77 flew past Earth

Closest approach
Map: Asteroid 2026 TN77 flew past Earth

Asteroid 2026 TN77 passed Earth on Monday, October 12, 2026 at about 15:24 UTC, at 55,433 km (34,446 miles): 0.14 times the distance to the Moon, closer than the Moon itself. It was moving at 15.3 km/s (34,222 mph) relative to Earth and is about 10 to 22 meters (32 to 71 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 12 15:24 UTC
Distance55,433 km · 34,446 mi
Lunar distances0.14
Speed15.3 km/s · 34,222 mph
Size (est.)10–22 m
Brightness (H)27.2
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Its orbit

It is an Aten asteroid: its orbit is smaller than Earth’s but crosses it. It circles the Sun once every 280 days. Astronomers first spotted it on October 13, 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.

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

Did you know?

The heaviest meteorite. The Hoba meteorite in Namibia, about 60 tonnes of iron, is the largest known meteorite. It has never been moved from where it fell.

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