2026 DS8 is an asteroid in the Apollo orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.73 AU to 1.27 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 365.5 days. Orbit from the JPL solution of 27 February 2026.
Where is it now
- Distance from Sun
- 1.268 AU
- True anomaly
- 172.57°
- Distance from Earth
- 0.96 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
- 11h 03m 00s
- Declination
- +51° 23′ 44″
- Constellation
- Ursa Major
- Distance from Earth
- 0.96 AU
- Elongation from the Sun
- 81.03° — well clear of the Sun
Favours the northern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far south.
From your location
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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 AU
- Eccentricity
- 0.2715
- Inclination
- 30.76°
- Orbital period
- 365.5 days
- Perihelion
- 0.729 AU
- Aphelion
- 1.272 AU
- Longitude of ascending node
- 335.32°
- Argument of periapsis
- 291.35°
- Epoch · J2000
- 2461095.5
- Orbit class · APO
- Apollo
- Earth MOID · 13.0 LD
- 0.0334 AU
- Tisserand (Jupiter)
- 5.926
Orbit quality
Orbit very uncertain — the object may be effectively lost (uncertainty code 8).
- Observations used
- 30
- Data arc
- 2 days
- First observed
- 23 February 2026
- Last observed
- 25 February 2026
- Residual RMS
- 0.36 ″
- Solution · Otto Matic
- 27 February 2026
Visual & observation
- Absolute magnitude (H)
- 26.43
Discovery & classification
Close approaches 25 on record
Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-02-26 09:34 UTC close approach of 2026 DS8. Catalogue miss distance 13.7 LD · 5.25 × 10⁶ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-02-23 to 2027-03-01, 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 south of the ecliptic. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2027-02-26 09:34:00 | Earth | 0.0351 AU | 13.7 LD | 17.5 km/s |
| 2028-02-26 17:49:00 | Earth | 0.0368 AU | 14.3 LD | 17.4 km/s |
| 2029-02-26 02:51:00 | Earth | 0.04 AU | 15.6 LD | 17.3 km/s |
| 2030-02-26 12:46:00 | Earth | 0.0452 AU | 17.6 LD | 17.2 km/s |
| 2031-02-26 23:19:00 | Earth | 0.0532 AU | 20.7 LD | 17.1 km/s |
| 2032-02-27 10:53:00 | Earth | 0.0641 AU | 24.9 LD | 16.9 km/s |
| 2033-02-26 22:24:00 | Earth | 0.0772 AU | 30.0 LD | 16.7 km/s |
| 2033-06-21 14:10:00 | Venus | 0.1167 AU | 45.4 LD | 21.8 km/s |
| 2034-02-27 10:28:00 | Earth | 0.0932 AU | 36.3 LD | 16.5 km/s |
| 2035-02-27 22:16:00 | Earth | 0.1114 AU | 43.3 LD | 16.3 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