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Asteroid Near-Earth

2026 JW

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(2026 JW)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.879 AU
True anomaly
254.09°
Distance from Earth
0.667 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 JW — 0.879 AU from the Sun 2026 JW
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2026 JW is 0.667 AU from Earth today (5.5 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
17h 38m 59s
Declination
+01° 50′ 30″
Constellation
Ophiuchus
Distance from Earth
0.66 AU
Elongation from the Sun
59.76° — 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
0.897 AU
Eccentricity
0.3285
Inclination
22.34°
Orbital period
310.1 days
Perihelion
0.602 AU
Aphelion
1.191 AU
Longitude of ascending node
226.98°
Argument of periapsis
227.11°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 6.5 LD
0.0167 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.528

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 7).

Observations used
30
Data arc
4 days
First observed
8 May 2026
Last observed
12 May 2026
Residual RMS
0.37 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
12 May 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
27.06

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 10 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2026 JW at 2043-05-07 12:00 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2043-05-07 12:00 UTC close approach of 2026 JW. Catalogue miss distance 40.5 LD · 1.56 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2043-05-04 to 2043-05-10, 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 40.5 LD · 1.56 × 10⁷ km 2043-05-07 12:00 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2043-05-07 12:00 UTC close approach of 2026 JW. Catalogue miss distance 40.5 LD · 1.56 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2043-05-04 to 2043-05-10, 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
2031-02-24 11:50:00 Venus 0.0753 AU 29.3 LD 18.7 km/s
2043-05-07 12:00:00 Earth 0.104 AU 40.5 LD 12.2 km/s
2048-12-23 07:18:00 Venus 0.0792 AU 30.8 LD 19.8 km/s
2054-05-08 05:09:00 Earth 0.1057 AU 41.1 LD 15.9 km/s
2066-10-21 20:28:00 Venus 0.1252 AU 48.7 LD 21.4 km/s
2071-05-06 19:55:00 Earth 0.0163 AU 6.3 LD 13.8 km/s
2133-05-07 10:59:00 Earth 0.0163 AU 6.3 LD 13.7 km/s

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

Sources