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Asteroid Near-Earth

2026 TP6

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(2026 TP6)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.021 AU
True anomaly
242.99°
Distance from Earth
0.027 AU
As of
11 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 — 0.998 AU from the Sun Earth 2026 TP6 — 1.021 AU from the Sun 2026 TP6
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2026 TP6 is 0.027 AU from Earth today (13.3 light-seconds).

In the sky

Right ascension
23h 20m 40s
Declination
-16° 55′ 50″
Constellation
Aquarius
Distance from Earth
0.03 AU
Elongation from the Sun
143.78° — 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
0.978 AU
Eccentricity
0.3472
Inclination
3.57°
Orbital period
353 days
Perihelion
0.638 AU
Aphelion
1.317 AU
Longitude of ascending node
22.61°
Argument of periapsis
112.07°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 0.6 LD
0.0015 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.134

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 7).

Observations used
20
Data arc
3 days
First observed
6 October 2026
Last observed
9 October 2026
Residual RMS
0.31 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
9 October 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
27.47

Discovery & classification

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

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 18 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2026 TP6 at 2026-10-14 23:57 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2026-10-14 23:57 UTC close approach of 2026 TP6. Catalogue miss distance 0.57 LD · 219,173 km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2026-10-11 to 2026-10-17, 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 12 Oct 13 Oct 17 Oct 0.57 LD · 219,173 km 2026-10-14 23:57 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2026-10-14 23:57 UTC close approach of 2026 TP6. Catalogue miss distance 0.57 LD · 219,173 km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2026-10-11 to 2026-10-17, 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
2026-10-14 23:57:00 Earth 0.0015 AU 0.6 LD 10.3 km/s
2026-10-15 07:24:00 Moon 0.0016 AU 0.6 LD 10.9 km/s
2026-12-20 18:28:00 Venus 0.0742 AU 28.9 LD 8 km/s
2027-10-09 19:15:00 Earth 0.1529 AU 59.5 LD 14.7 km/s
2056-06-01 02:08:00 Earth 0.1106 AU 43.0 LD 12.9 km/s
2057-05-26 19:41:00 Earth 0.0807 AU 31.4 LD 8.3 km/s
2064-10-14 11:37:00 Earth 0.0107 AU 4.2 LD 9.8 km/s
2064-10-14 20:40:00 Moon 0.0088 AU 3.4 LD 10.6 km/s
2065-10-10 03:33:00 Earth 0.1251 AU 48.7 LD 13.8 km/s
2106-10-16 00:22:00 Earth 0.0973 AU 37.9 LD 7.4 km/s

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

Sources