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Asteroid Near-Earth

2026 AL

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(2026 AL)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.085 AU
True anomaly
180.92°
Distance from Earth
0.667 AU
As of
22 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 — 0.995 AU from the Sun Earth 2026 AL — 1.085 AU from the Sun 2026 AL
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2026 AL is 0.667 AU from Earth today (5.6 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
08h 47m 26s
Declination
+12° 06′ 44″
Constellation
Cancer
Distance from Earth
0.67 AU
Elongation from the Sun
78.89° — 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
0.949 AU
Eccentricity
0.1433
Inclination
5.88°
Orbital period
337.8 days
Perihelion
0.813 AU
Aphelion
1.085 AU
Longitude of ascending node
102.11°
Argument of periapsis
143.13°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 16.6 LD
0.0427 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.322

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 5).

Observations used
50
Data arc
13 days
First observed
8 January 2026
Last observed
21 January 2026
Residual RMS
0.45 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
23 January 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
24.93

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 60 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2026 AL at 2037-07-19 15:03 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2037-07-19 15:03 UTC close approach of 2026 AL. Catalogue miss distance 65.4 LD · 2.51 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2037-07-16 to 2037-07-22, 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. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. Sun 65.4 LD · 2.51 × 10⁷ km 2037-07-19 15:03 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2037-07-19 15:03 UTC close approach of 2026 AL. Catalogue miss distance 65.4 LD · 2.51 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2037-07-16 to 2037-07-22, 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. 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
2037-07-19 15:03:00 Earth 0.1681 AU 65.4 LD 5.6 km/s
2037-12-12 07:04:00 Earth 0.1088 AU 42.3 LD 4.6 km/s
2038-04-02 04:23:00 Earth 0.1802 AU 70.1 LD 4 km/s
2049-09-16 10:59:00 Earth 0.1049 AU 40.8 LD 3.9 km/s
2051-01-27 00:53:00 Earth 0.1252 AU 48.7 LD 8.3 km/s
2061-09-27 14:10:00 Earth 0.163 AU 63.4 LD 8.4 km/s
2062-06-20 14:15:00 Earth 0.1962 AU 76.4 LD 6.5 km/s
2063-01-17 07:45:00 Earth 0.0516 AU 20.1 LD 4.6 km/s
2074-08-07 19:51:00 Earth 0.1443 AU 56.2 LD 4.8 km/s
2075-04-24 15:47:00 Earth 0.199 AU 77.4 LD 5.4 km/s

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

Sources