A recently detected asteroid will pass relatively close to Earth this Monday, attracting the interest of astronomers and space agencies worldwide. Even with the narrow cosmic distance, experts stress that the object poses no risk to the planet and will proceed safely along its trajectory through space.
Astronomers are closely monitoring an asteroid known as 2026JH2, a rocky object expected to glide past Earth at an estimated distance of about 91,593 kilometers, roughly 56,900 miles. According to calculations from the European Space Agency, its trajectory will bring it to nearly one quarter of the usual gap between Earth and the moon, placing it among this year’s closest recorded asteroid flybys. Even so, researchers point out that it presents no risk of impact or atmospheric entry.
The asteroid was initially spotted on May 10 by researchers from the Mount Lemmon Survey in Tucson, Arizona, a program among several focused on tracking near-Earth objects, and after being found, it was officially named 2026JH2 and identified as a member of the Apollo asteroid group, which is characterized by orbits that cross Earth’s path around the sun.
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory estimates that the asteroid will make its closest pass shortly before 6 p.m. Eastern Time. While that distance may appear alarmingly close from a human perspective, astronomers note that such flybys are relatively common within the broader scale of the solar system.
Why experts believe there is nothing to worry about
Planetary scientists have reassured the public that the asteroid will safely miss Earth. Richard Binzel, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and creator of the Torino Scale used to classify asteroid impact risks, explained that objects of similar size frequently pass between Earth and the moon without causing any issues.
Binzel notes that asteroids roughly the size of a car or small bus regularly move through Earth’s celestial vicinity, and what distinguishes the situation today is that enhanced detection technologies now let astronomers identify many of these objects that would previously have escaped notice.
At its closest pass, 2026JH2 will remain well beyond the altitude range where numerous geosynchronous satellites operate to support telecommunications, weather forecasting, and broadcasting, and specialists highlight that the object’s trajectory has been rigorously examined and does not intersect Earth’s orbit.
The asteroid is believed to come from the primary asteroid belt situated between Mars and Jupiter, where experts note that impacts among rocky bodies, along with Jupiter’s gravitational pull, can sometimes send debris drifting into the inner solar system, a mechanism understood for many years and credited with producing numerous near-Earth asteroids monitored by astronomers today.
Although this flyby poses no danger, the event underscores how vital ongoing monitoring efforts are for spotting potentially hazardous objects long before they pose any real threat.
The challenge of determining an asteroid’s exact size
Despite direct observations of 2026JH2, astronomers remain unable to pin down its exact size, with current scientific assessments placing its diameter somewhere between 15 and 30 meters, a range comparable to one or two school buses, yet this approximation stays ambiguous because telescopes that operate in visible light only register the object’s brightness.
Patrick Michel, an astrophysicist and research director at France’s National Centre for Scientific Research, explained that an asteroid’s brightness does not directly reveal its size. A darker object may appear faint even if it is relatively large, while a smaller but highly reflective asteroid could seem brighter.
Astronomers can gauge an object’s dimensions with greater accuracy when they gather infrared observations, because this type of data records heat signatures that align closely with the object’s true scale. However, carrying out infrared measurements from Earth is far more difficult, which means these readings are typically missing during the early identification of near‑Earth objects.
Scientists compare the lower end of 2026JH2’s estimated size range to the meteor that exploded over Chelyabinsk, Russia, in 2013. That event generated a shockwave that shattered windows and injured more than 1,000 people. At the higher end of the estimate, the asteroid could resemble the object associated with the 1908 Tunguska event in Siberia, which flattened vast areas of forest.
Researchers emphasize, though, that these comparisons speak only to size and not to danger, as 2026JH2 is not anticipated to pass into Earth’s atmosphere. Its path keeps it safely distant from the planet, eliminating any possibility of an airburst or impact.
Tracking asteroids in the years ahead continues to be vital
Although scientists are confident that 2026JH2 poses no current threat, experts acknowledge that predicting the long-term movement of asteroids remains a complex challenge. Orbital paths can gradually change over time due to gravitational interactions with planets and other celestial bodies.
Michel noted that while long-term paths can never be forecast with perfect accuracy, current assessments show that no identified asteroid is expected to pose a significant collision risk in the next century, and planetary defense teams continually monitor thousands of near-Earth objects to detect any possible changes in their trajectories.
The close flyby occurs at a time when planetary radar assets are far more limited than in past years. Jean-Luc Margot, a professor of planetary sciences at the University of California, Los Angeles, explained that the 2020 collapse of the Arecibo Observatory drastically reduced the scientific community’s radar observation capacity, and NASA’s Goldstone radar facility is also currently undergoing major repairs.
Without radar data, astronomers face greater challenges in pinpointing the exact shape, rotation, and trajectory of nearby asteroids, and although optical telescopes provide valuable information, radar instruments allow scientists to develop far more precise representations of an object’s movement and physical properties.
Margot noted that astronomers have detected only a limited number of near-Earth asteroids comparable in size to 2026JH2. Since many of these bodies are quite dim and compact, they typically come to light just days before their closest flybys, becoming visible only when their brightness finally reaches the threshold of survey telescopes.
This limitation has encouraged space agencies and scientific organizations to invest more heavily in asteroid discovery and tracking programs. New observatories and next-generation sky surveys are expected to improve detection rates significantly over the coming years, allowing researchers to build a more complete inventory of nearby objects.
A remarkable celestial spectacle is expected to unfold with the approach of Apophis
As 2026JH2 draws increasing attention for its close flyby, astronomers are already shifting their gaze toward an even more remarkable occurrence expected in 2029, when a significantly larger asteroid named Apophis is predicted to pass Earth at an even nearer distance on April 13 of that year.
Scientists predict that Apophis will sweep past Earth at about 32,000 kilometers, bringing it nearer than certain orbiting satellites, and while this flyby is strikingly close, astronomers emphasize that it poses no danger and view it instead as a rare chance for scientific study.
The anticipated Apophis flyby is positioned to become one of the most closely monitored asteroid encounters of modern times, and unlike 2026JH2, which will remain out of sight to the naked eye, Apophis is expected to be visible without telescopes from several regions across Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.
Events like these offer researchers valuable opportunities to study asteroid composition, movement, and structure while refining planetary defense strategies. Each close approach improves scientific understanding of how these objects behave and how humanity could respond if a future asteroid ever posed a genuine threat.
For now, astronomers explain that the arrival of 2026JH2 chiefly underscores the constant shifts in Earth’s cosmic surroundings, where small asteroids routinely move through the solar system, and advancing technology enables scientists to spot them well before any close encounter occurs.
A livestream of the asteroid’s approach is expected to be broadcast by the Virtual Telescope Project from observatories in Italy, allowing astronomy enthusiasts around the world to follow the event in real time. Although the asteroid itself will remain far too dim for most people to see directly, the flyby continues to capture public curiosity about the many objects that silently travel through Earth’s neighborhood in space.
