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Asteroid Near-Earth

2026 JA

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(2026 JA)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.756 AU
True anomaly
281.81°
Distance from Earth
0.382 AU
As of
20 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 — 0.996 AU from the Sun Earth 2026 JA — 0.756 AU from the Sun 2026 JA
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2026 JA is 0.382 AU from Earth today (3.2 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
16h 25m 11s
Declination
-00° 13′ 26″
Constellation
Ophiuchus
Distance from Earth
0.38 AU
Elongation from the Sun
41.88° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

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
0.875 AU
Eccentricity
0.2899
Inclination
19.24°
Orbital period
298.8 days
Perihelion
0.621 AU
Aphelion
1.128 AU
Longitude of ascending node
222.69°
Argument of periapsis
224.54°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 0.6 LD
0.0016 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.69

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 4).

Observations used
70
Data arc
10 days
First observed
4 May 2026
Last observed
14 May 2026
Residual RMS
0.33 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
4 June 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
26.68

Discovery & classification

Listed by JPL impact monitoring; see the Sentry table for current probabilities.

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 29 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2026 JA at 2035-05-03 12:57 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2035-05-03 12:57 UTC close approach of 2026 JA. Catalogue miss distance 0.83 LD · 317,557 km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2035-04-30 to 2035-05-06, 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. Sun 1 May 5 May 0.83 LD · 317,557 km 2035-05-03 12:57 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2035-05-03 12:57 UTC close approach of 2026 JA. Catalogue miss distance 0.83 LD · 317,557 km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2035-04-30 to 2035-05-06, 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.

JPL Horizons

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2026-11-13 23:58:00 Venus 0.1417 AU 55.1 LD 15.7 km/s
2029-04-26 01:09:00 Venus 0.1074 AU 41.8 LD 15.7 km/s
2031-10-07 18:13:00 Venus 0.0794 AU 30.9 LD 16 km/s
2034-03-20 21:11:00 Venus 0.064 AU 24.9 LD 16.4 km/s
2035-05-03 07:29:00 Moon 0.004 AU 1.6 LD 12.2 km/s
2035-05-03 12:57:00 Earth 0.0021 AU 0.8 LD 11.8 km/s
2036-09-07 13:41:00 Venus 0.0637 AU 24.8 LD 15.9 km/s
2054-05-03 10:06:00 Earth 0.0401 AU 15.6 LD 11.1 km/s
2065-07-28 02:17:00 Venus 0.1123 AU 43.7 LD 18.7 km/s
2068-01-19 19:21:00 Venus 0.0534 AU 20.8 LD 16.5 km/s

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

Sources