ASTEROID FLYBY1.0× MOON

Asteroid 2026 VU flew past Earth

Closest approach
Map: Asteroid 2026 VU flew past Earth

Asteroid 2026 VU passed Earth on Monday, November 2, 2026 at about 04:08 UTC, at 372,855 km (231,692 miles): 0.97 times the distance to the Moon, closer than the Moon itself. It was moving at 12.6 km/s (28,206 mph) relative to Earth and is about 3 to 6 meters (9 to 20 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 2 04:08 UTC
Distance372,855 km · 231,692 mi
Lunar distances0.97
Speed12.6 km/s · 28,206 mph
Size (est.)3–6 m
Brightness (H)29.9
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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 November 3, 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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