2026 BT is an asteroid in the Apollo orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.84 AU to 1.18 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 370.5 days. Orbit from the JPL solution of 5 March 2026.
Where is it now
- Distance from Sun
- 1.168 AU
- True anomaly
- 199.38°
- Distance from Earth
- 0.271 AU
- As of
- 3 November 2026
Two-body Kepler propagation — accurate to ~0.1% for major planets over decades, less so for highly-perturbed bodies. Use JPL Horizons for high precision.
In the sky
- Right ascension
- 06h 04m 44s
- Declination
- -03° 21′ 45″
- Constellation
- Orion
- Distance from Earth
- 0.27 AU
- Elongation from the Sun
- 125.15° — well clear of the Sun
Visible from both hemispheres.
From your location
See how high it is right now, whether it is up after civil twilight, and when it rises and sets where you are.
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Two-body approximation, good to about a degree for the planets — enough to find the constellation and know whether it is up.
Orbital elements
- Semi-major axis
- 1.01 AU
- Eccentricity
- 0.1707
- Inclination
- 6.58°
- Orbital period
- 370.5 days
- Perihelion
- 0.837 AU
- Aphelion
- 1.182 AU
- Longitude of ascending node
- 115.86°
- Argument of periapsis
- 95.11°
- Epoch · J2000
- 2461200.5
- Orbit class · APO
- Apollo
- Earth MOID · 2.4 LD
- 0.0063 AU
- Tisserand (Jupiter)
- 6.016
Orbit quality
Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 5).
- Observations used
- 44
- Data arc
- 2 days
- First observed
- 17 January 2026
- Last observed
- 19 January 2026
- Residual RMS
- 0.35 ″
- Solution · Otto Matic
- 5 March 2026
Visual & observation
- Absolute magnitude (H)
- 28.65
Discovery & classification
Close approaches 39 on record
Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-01-17 06:51 UTC close approach of 2026 BT. Catalogue miss distance 37.1 LD · 1.43 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-01-14 to 2027-01-20, with a mark at UTC midnights and an arrow for the direction of motion. The circle is the Moon’s mean orbit; the Moon is plotted at closest approach. A ray shows the Sun’s direction. The labelled distance is the full separation. The drawn radius is the part that lies in the ecliptic plane. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate.
| When (UTC) | Body | Distance | Lunar distances | Relative speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2027-01-17 06:51:00 | Earth | 0.0953 AU | 37.1 LD | 4.3 km/s |
| 2027-12-15 20:38:00 | Earth | 0.1705 AU | 66.4 LD | 4.6 km/s |
| 2028-03-15 16:09:00 | Earth | 0.173 AU | 67.3 LD | 4.7 km/s |
| 2029-04-15 13:38:00 | Earth | 0.1964 AU | 76.4 LD | 5.5 km/s |
| 2030-05-12 14:04:00 | Earth | 0.1917 AU | 74.6 LD | 5.6 km/s |
| 2031-06-10 18:58:00 | Earth | 0.161 AU | 62.6 LD | 5 km/s |
| 2031-09-07 07:51:00 | Earth | 0.1838 AU | 71.5 LD | 4 km/s |
| 2032-07-16 11:51:00 | Earth | 0.0958 AU | 37.3 LD | 4.5 km/s |
| 2033-07-29 16:51:00 | Earth | 0.0273 AU | 10.6 LD | 6.2 km/s |
| 2034-08-04 12:13:00 | Earth | 0.0887 AU | 34.5 LD | 8.5 km/s |
Next ten from today. 1 lunar distance = 384,400 km. Source: JPL close-approach data.
Sources
- visual properties: JPL SBDB (lookup)
- orbital elements: JPL SBDB