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Asteroid Near-Earth

2026 RP

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(2026 RP)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.093 AU
True anomaly
210.49°
Distance from Earth
0.313 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 RP — 1.093 AU from the Sun 2026 RP
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2026 RP is 0.313 AU from Earth today (2.6 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
21h 16m 14s
Declination
-42° 21′ 58″
Constellation
Microscopium
Distance from Earth
0.31 AU
Elongation from the Sun
99.48° — well clear of the Sun

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.

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
0.879 AU
Eccentricity
0.3271
Inclination
20.9°
Orbital period
300.9 days
Perihelion
0.591 AU
Aphelion
1.166 AU
Longitude of ascending node
173.84°
Argument of periapsis
349.38°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 55.9 LD
0.1437 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.646

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 4).

Observations used
43
Data arc
30 days
First observed
4 September 2026
Last observed
4 October 2026
Residual RMS
0.43 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
5 October 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
23.18

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 52 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2026 RP at 2031-10-06 04:31 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2031-10-06 04:31 UTC close approach of 2026 RP. Catalogue miss distance 74.0 LD · 2.85 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2031-10-03 to 2031-10-09, 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. Sun 74.0 LD · 2.85 × 10⁷ km 2031-10-06 04:31 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2031-10-06 04:31 UTC close approach of 2026 RP. Catalogue miss distance 74.0 LD · 2.85 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2031-10-03 to 2031-10-09, 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
2031-10-06 04:31:00 Earth 0.1902 AU 74.0 LD 13.4 km/s
2040-09-10 10:30:00 Earth 0.1722 AU 67.0 LD 11.7 km/s
2045-10-03 16:12:00 Earth 0.1694 AU 65.9 LD 12.8 km/s
2054-09-07 20:20:00 Earth 0.1815 AU 70.6 LD 11.7 km/s
2059-10-02 19:26:00 Earth 0.1606 AU 62.5 LD 12.5 km/s
2060-11-17 09:57:00 Venus 0.1486 AU 57.8 LD 17.3 km/s
2063-05-12 21:22:00 Venus 0.1242 AU 48.3 LD 17.3 km/s
2065-11-04 01:11:00 Venus 0.1179 AU 45.9 LD 17.5 km/s
2068-04-27 23:01:00 Venus 0.1356 AU 52.8 LD 18 km/s
2068-09-06 13:13:00 Earth 0.1841 AU 71.7 LD 11.7 km/s

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

Sources