ASTEROID FLYBY0.3× MOON

Asteroid 2026 UE2 flies past Earth

Closest approach
Map: Asteroid 2026 UE2 flies past Earth

Asteroid 2026 UE2 will pass Earth on Thursday, October 29, 2026 at about 01:26 UTC, at 123,727 km (76,884 miles): 0.32 times the distance to the Moon, closer than the Moon itself. It is moving at 7.7 km/s (17,155 mph) relative to Earth and is about 3 to 8 meters (11 to 25 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 29 01:26 UTC
Distance123,727 km · 76,884 mi
Lunar distances0.32
Speed7.7 km/s · 17,155 mph
Size (est.)3–8 m
Brightness (H)29.5
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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 1.6 years. Astronomers first spotted it on October 28, 2026, just 1 day 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.

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

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