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Asteroid Near-Earth

2026 BJ5

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(2026 BJ5)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.909 AU
True anomaly
47.86°
Distance from Earth
0.266 AU
As of
23 October 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.

Sun Earth — 0.995 AU from the Sun Earth 2026 BJ5 — 0.909 AU from the Sun 2026 BJ5
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2026 BJ5 is 0.266 AU from Earth today (2.2 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
09h 38m 17s
Declination
-04° 41′ 10″
Constellation
Hydra
Distance from Earth
0.27 AU
Elongation from the Sun
64.18° — 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.

How do I find my coordinates?

Google Maps on a computer

  1. Right-click the spot where you'll be observing.
  2. The first line of the menu is the coordinates, e.g. 51.50722, -0.12758 — click it and they're copied.
  3. Paste them above.

Google Maps on a phone

  1. Press and hold the spot to drop a pin.
  2. The coordinates appear in the search bar (or on the pin's card) — tap to copy, then paste above.

A full Google Maps link works too, but the short maps.app.goo.gl share links don't carry coordinates — copy the numbers instead. We round to about a kilometre; that's all the sky calculation needs.

Know your what3words address? Paste it, e.g. ///filled.count.soap. This is optional — the three words are sent to what3words to convert them, and we don't store the address or the result.

Your location stays in your browser and is sent only for this calculation. Using a what3words address is optional; if you do, the three words go to what3words to be converted and we don't record them. Set a location first, then you can save an email alert for this object. See our privacy policy.

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
0.966 AU
Eccentricity
0.0817
Inclination
5.59°
Orbital period
346.6 days
Perihelion
0.887 AU
Aphelion
1.044 AU
Longitude of ascending node
112.87°
Argument of periapsis
243.85°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 3.5 LD
0.0089 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.243

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 5).

Observations used
27
Data arc
9 days
First observed
14 January 2026
Last observed
23 January 2026
Residual RMS
0.44 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
17 March 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
28.36

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 23 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2026 BJ5 at 2027-05-18 20:49 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-05-18 20:49 UTC close approach of 2026 BJ5. Catalogue miss distance 60.1 LD · 2.31 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-05-15 to 2027-05-21, 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. At closest approach the object is north of the ecliptic. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. Sun 60.1 LD · 2.31 × 10⁷ km 2027-05-18 20:49 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-05-18 20:49 UTC close approach of 2026 BJ5. Catalogue miss distance 60.1 LD · 2.31 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-05-15 to 2027-05-21, 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. At closest approach the object is north of the ecliptic. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate.

JPL Horizons

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2027-05-18 20:49:00 Earth 0.1545 AU 60.1 LD 6.8 km/s
2044-01-08 12:40:00 Earth 0.0926 AU 36.0 LD 6 km/s
2044-09-12 03:11:00 Earth 0.1419 AU 55.2 LD 3.7 km/s
2045-06-01 02:06:00 Earth 0.0807 AU 31.4 LD 4.4 km/s
2062-01-10 16:55:00 Earth 0.1979 AU 77.0 LD 8.9 km/s
2062-11-02 20:49:00 Earth 0.1336 AU 52.0 LD 2.4 km/s
2063-02-28 16:28:00 Earth 0.0999 AU 38.9 LD 3 km/s
2063-06-27 20:03:00 Earth 0.0778 AU 30.3 LD 3.6 km/s
2081-01-20 03:33:00 Earth 0.053 AU 20.6 LD 3.2 km/s
2081-07-18 04:58:00 Earth 0.1015 AU 39.5 LD 3.9 km/s

Next ten from today. 1 lunar distance = 384,400 km. Source: JPL close-approach data.

Sources