Asteroid 2026 JH2 Is About to Fly Right Past Earth—Relatively Speaking
Key takeaways
- The object will pass at a minimum distance from Earth of about 57,000 miles—much closer than the moon, which is about four times farther away.
- There are tens of thousands of NEOs, which are generally of no particular concern; they are, of course, monitored, and some do have a (small) risk of impacting Earth in the next few years.
- Asteroid 2026 JH2 is technically an Apollo-type NEO, according to a classification system that takes into consideration the characteristics of the object's orbit.
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Photograph: buradaki/i Stock/Getty Images Plus Comment Loader Save Story Save this story Comment Loader Save Story Save this storylook up! Asteroid 2026 JH2 is now approaching Earth; the object, which is about 20 meters (66 feet) in diameter—comparable to Chicago's Cloud Gate sculpture—will pass by on May 18. Enthusiasts will be able to observe it using a telescope or during a live broadcast organized by Virtual Telescope.
The object will pass at a minimum distance from Earth of about 57,000 miles—much closer than the moon, which is about four times farther away. Among the tracked near-earth objects, or NEOs, that will pass near the planet over the next few months, it will come the closest.
There are tens of thousands of NEOs, which are generally of no particular concern; they are, of course, monitored, and some do have a (small) risk of impacting Earth in the next few years. According to New Scientist, 2026 JH2 is not among them, despite the widespread use of hyperbolic terms like “grazing” to describe how near it will come.