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Asteroid Near-Earth

2026 PF6

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(2026 PF6)

2026 PF6 is an asteroid in the Apollo orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.78 AU to 1.27 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 380.9 days. Orbit from the JPL solution of 15 August 2026.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.268 AU
True anomaly
170.45°
Distance from Earth
0.581 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.

Sun Earth — 0.992 AU from the Sun Earth 2026 PF6 — 1.268 AU from the Sun 2026 PF6
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2026 PF6 is 0.581 AU from Earth today (4.8 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
21h 33m 31s
Declination
+02° 36′ 48″
Constellation
Pegasus
Distance from Earth
0.59 AU
Elongation from the Sun
103.94° — well clear of the Sun

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
1.028 AU
Eccentricity
0.2379
Inclination
9.16°
Orbital period
380.9 days
Perihelion
0.784 AU
Aphelion
1.273 AU
Longitude of ascending node
322.53°
Argument of periapsis
243.28°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · APO
Apollo
Earth MOID · 14.8 LD
0.0381 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
5.913

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 7).

Observations used
13
Data arc
24 hours
First observed
11 August 2026
Last observed
12 August 2026
Residual RMS
0.5 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 August 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
25.43

Discovery & classification

Apollo Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 23 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2026 PF6 at 2051-08-06 07:58 UTC Sun 39.6 LD · 1.52 × 10⁷ km 2051-08-06 07:58 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2051-08-06 07:58 UTC close approach of 2026 PF6. Catalogue miss distance 39.6 LD · 1.52 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2051-08-03 to 2051-08-09, 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
2051-08-06 07:58:00 Earth 0.1017 AU 39.6 LD 11 km/s
2072-01-24 17:48:00 Earth 0.0679 AU 26.4 LD 8.2 km/s
2075-08-03 23:45:00 Earth 0.0559 AU 21.7 LD 7.6 km/s
2096-01-10 05:26:00 Earth 0.1997 AU 77.7 LD 13.7 km/s
2097-01-30 21:28:00 Earth 0.0953 AU 37.1 LD 7.3 km/s
2097-03-07 17:24:00 Venus 0.1439 AU 56.0 LD 7.5 km/s
2100-08-04 10:01:00 Earth 0.0372 AU 14.5 LD 8.6 km/s
2146-01-24 02:19:00 Earth 0.0647 AU 25.2 LD 8.6 km/s
2148-03-24 21:51:00 Venus 0.1482 AU 57.7 LD 6.6 km/s
2149-08-04 22:29:00 Earth 0.07 AU 27.3 LD 7.2 km/s

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

Sources