2026 EJ is an asteroid in the Apollo orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.66 AU to 1.35 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 367.2 days. Orbit from the JPL solution of 21 March 2026.
Where is it now
- Distance from Sun
- 0.878 AU
- True anomaly
- 271.5°
- Distance from Earth
- 1.16 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
- 17h 53m 56s
- Declination
- -26° 00′ 45″
- Constellation
- Sagittarius
- Distance from Earth
- 1.16 AU
- Elongation from the Sun
- 47.37° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn
Favours the southern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far north.
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
- 1.004 AU
- Eccentricity
- 0.3426
- Inclination
- 9.43°
- Orbital period
- 367.2 days
- Perihelion
- 0.66 AU
- Aphelion
- 1.347 AU
- Longitude of ascending node
- 345.95°
- Argument of periapsis
- 67.22°
- Epoch · J2000
- 2461200.5
- Orbit class · APO
- Apollo
- Earth MOID · 4.7 LD
- 0.0122 AU
- Tisserand (Jupiter)
- 5.999
Orbit quality
Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 7).
- Observations used
- 81
- Data arc
- 10 days
- First observed
- 6 March 2026
- Last observed
- 16 March 2026
- Residual RMS
- 0.41 ″
- Solution · Otto Matic
- 21 March 2026
Visual & observation
- Absolute magnitude (H)
- 26.46
Discovery & classification
Close approaches 65 on record
Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-03-04 01:10 UTC close approach of 2026 EJ. Catalogue miss distance 11.1 LD · 4.27 × 10⁶ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-03-01 to 2027-03-07, 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.
| When (UTC) | Body | Distance | Lunar distances | Relative speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2027-03-04 01:10:00 | Earth | 0.0286 AU | 11.1 LD | 11.8 km/s |
| 2028-03-04 16:44:00 | Earth | 0.0701 AU | 27.3 LD | 13 km/s |
| 2029-03-06 16:03:00 | Earth | 0.1167 AU | 45.4 LD | 14.3 km/s |
| 2030-03-08 20:14:00 | Earth | 0.1661 AU | 64.6 LD | 15.8 km/s |
| 2033-02-09 18:36:00 | Venus | 0.0933 AU | 36.3 LD | 13 km/s |
| 2035-12-20 17:01:00 | Venus | 0.0843 AU | 32.8 LD | 13.2 km/s |
| 2058-04-29 13:13:00 | Venus | 0.0817 AU | 31.8 LD | 10.1 km/s |
| 2061-03-07 22:03:00 | Venus | 0.1496 AU | 58.2 LD | 16.8 km/s |
| 2069-05-30 21:51:00 | Venus | 0.1204 AU | 46.9 LD | 14.9 km/s |
| 2072-04-08 01:06:00 | Venus | 0.0731 AU | 28.5 LD | 12.2 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