ASTEROID FLYBY0.5× MOON

Asteroid 2026 VE3 flew past Earth

Closest approach Sunday, November 1, 2026 · 01:00 UTC

Asteroid 2026 VE3 passed Earth on Sunday, November 1, 2026 at about 01:00 UTC, at 205,059 km (127,424 miles): 0.53 times the distance to the Moon, closer than the Moon itself. It was moving at 3.0 km/s (6,616 mph) relative to Earth and is about 5 to 12 meters (18 to 40 feet) across, judging by its brightness. NASA’s orbit puts it safely past: it posed no risk of hitting Earth on this pass.

Closest approachNov 1 01:00 UTC

Distance205,059 km · 127,424 mi

Lunar distances0.53

Speed3.0 km/s · 6,616 mph

Size (est.)5–12 m

Brightness (H)28.4

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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 November 2, 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.

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Asteroid 2026 VE3 flew past Earth

Its orbit

How often does this happen?

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