Asteroid to Pass Extremely Close to Earth: What You Need to Know

An asteroid known as 2026JH2 is set to make a close approach to Earth next week. Estimated to be around 90,917 kilometers away, it will pass at a quarter of the distance between Earth and the Moon.

According to Dr. Mark Norris from the University of Lancashire, UK, “Astronomically speaking, that’s as close as you can get without a collision.”

Only five asteroids are predicted to pass within the Moon’s orbit this year, with 2026JH2 being the second closest.

Discovered by the Mount Lemmon Survey in Arizona and the Far Point Observatory in Kansas, 2026JH2 will reach its closest point to Earth on May 18th at 9 p.m. UTC. Norris points out that viewing the asteroid will be challenging for southern hemisphere astronomers due to its brief visibility and its high speed of 9.17 kilometers per second, akin to that of a satellite.

Its diameter ranges from 16 to 36 meters, based on data released by Solmano Observatory. “If 2026JH2 were to hit Earth, it would be capable of causing significant destruction, similar to a city-wide catastrophe,” Norris warns.

Astronomers believe they have identified and monitored nearly all asteroids over 1 kilometer in our solar system. As detection techniques advance, we will increasingly catalog smaller asteroids, like 2026JH2, which can be challenging to observe due to inadequate light reflection, according to Dr. Mark Burchell from the University of Kent, UK. “Such small bodies are difficult to detect.”

If 2026JH2 were to collide with Earth, it could unleash energy comparable to that of the 2013 Chelyabinsk meteorite, which produced 30 times the kinetic energy of the Hiroshima bomb, reports the head of the European Space Agency’s Planetary Defense Directorate, Richard Moisle.