ASTEROID FLYBY0.6× MOON

Asteroid 2026 TP6 flies past Earth

Closest approach
Map: Asteroid 2026 TP6 flies past Earth

Asteroid 2026 TP6 will pass Earth on Thursday, October 15, 2026 at about 00:01 UTC, at 218,958 km (136,060 miles): 0.57 times the distance to the Moon, closer than the Moon itself. It is moving at 10.3 km/s (23,010 mph) relative to Earth and is about 9 to 21 meters (31 to 68 feet) across, judging by its brightness. NASA’s orbit puts it safely past: it poses no risk of hitting Earth on this pass.

Closest approachOct 15 00:01 UTC
Distance218,958 km · 136,060 mi
Lunar distances0.57
Speed10.3 km/s · 23,010 mph
Size (est.)9–21 m
Brightness (H)27.3
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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 353 days. Astronomers first spotted it on October 6, 2026, just 9 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?

The 140-meter goal. NASA is tasked with finding 90% of near-Earth asteroids 140 meters or larger, big enough to devastate a whole region.

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

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