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Asteroid Near-Earth

2026 KJ

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(2026 KJ)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.785 AU
True anomaly
289.97°
Distance from Earth
0.265 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 KJ — 0.785 AU from the Sun 2026 KJ
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2026 KJ is 0.265 AU from Earth today (2.2 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
15h 31m 31s
Declination
+05° 36′ 33″
Constellation
Serpens
Distance from Earth
0.26 AU
Elongation from the Sun
31.46° — 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
0.89 AU
Eccentricity
0.2246
Inclination
14.88°
Orbital period
306.7 days
Perihelion
0.69 AU
Aphelion
1.09 AU
Longitude of ascending node
232.64°
Argument of periapsis
217.21°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 6.3 LD
0.0161 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.626

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 5).

Observations used
58
Data arc
8 days
First observed
17 May 2026
Last observed
25 May 2026
Residual RMS
0.45 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
26 May 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
26.02

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 33 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2026 KJ at 2042-05-31 22:33 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2042-05-31 22:33 UTC close approach of 2026 KJ. Catalogue miss distance 68.8 LD · 2.64 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2042-05-28 to 2042-06-03, 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 68.8 LD · 2.64 × 10⁷ km 2042-05-31 22:33 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2042-05-31 22:33 UTC close approach of 2026 KJ. Catalogue miss distance 68.8 LD · 2.64 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2042-05-28 to 2042-06-03, 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
2026-11-12 08:02:00 Venus 0.0418 AU 16.3 LD 12.2 km/s
2042-05-31 22:33:00 Earth 0.1767 AU 68.8 LD 8 km/s
2047-05-11 05:53:00 Earth 0.0392 AU 15.3 LD 9.4 km/s
2052-01-29 18:28:00 Venus 0.0095 AU 3.7 LD 12.6 km/s
2068-05-10 14:19:00 Earth 0.126 AU 49.0 LD 11.3 km/s
2084-05-14 21:19:00 Earth 0.066 AU 25.7 LD 8.1 km/s
2086-07-13 23:22:00 Venus 0.0166 AU 6.5 LD 12.4 km/s
2089-05-11 07:15:00 Earth 0.174 AU 67.7 LD 12.5 km/s
2118-07-01 03:05:00 Venus 0.1474 AU 57.4 LD 16.3 km/s
2121-05-12 13:09:00 Earth 0.017 AU 6.6 LD 8.8 km/s

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

Sources