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Asteroid Near-Earth

2026 CA3

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(2026 CA3)

2026 CA3 is an asteroid in the Aten orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.59 AU to 1.38 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 358.9 days. Orbit from the JPL solution of 14 March 2026.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.313 AU
True anomaly
157.01°
Distance from Earth
1.12 AU
As of
2 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.

Sun Earth — 0.992 AU from the Sun Earth 2026 CA3 — 1.313 AU from the Sun 2026 CA3
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2026 CA3 is 1.12 AU from Earth today (9.3 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
09h 21m 35s
Declination
-06° 20′ 56″
Constellation
Hydra
Distance from Earth
1.12 AU
Elongation from the Sun
76.96° — 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
0.988 AU
Eccentricity
0.3989
Inclination
22.9°
Orbital period
358.9 days
Perihelion
0.594 AU
Aphelion
1.383 AU
Longitude of ascending node
142.95°
Argument of periapsis
152.21°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 77.8 LD
0.1998 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.001

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
27
Data arc
23 days
First observed
8 February 2026
Last observed
3 March 2026
Residual RMS
0.48 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
14 March 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
22.65

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 13 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2045-03-16 21:13:00 Venus 0.1395 AU 54.3 LD 21.2 km/s
2050-02-13 05:42:00 Venus 0.1108 AU 43.1 LD 20 km/s
2055-01-12 18:38:00 Venus 0.0939 AU 36.5 LD 19.1 km/s
2059-12-12 04:24:00 Venus 0.0884 AU 34.4 LD 18.4 km/s
2064-11-08 23:39:00 Venus 0.0957 AU 37.3 LD 17.8 km/s
2069-10-06 19:14:00 Venus 0.1165 AU 45.3 LD 17.5 km/s
2074-09-02 22:54:00 Venus 0.1445 AU 56.2 LD 17.4 km/s

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

Sources