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Asteroid Near-Earth

2026 BN5

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(2026 BN5)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.999 AU
True anomaly
164.2°
Distance from Earth
1.57 AU
As of
16 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 — 0.997 AU from the Sun Earth 2026 BN5 — 0.999 AU from the Sun 2026 BN5
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2026 BN5 is 1.57 AU from Earth today (13.1 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
11h 06m 10s
Declination
+04° 56′ 39″
Constellation
Leo
Distance from Earth
1.57 AU
Elongation from the Sun
38.26° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

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
0.799 AU
Eccentricity
0.2684
Inclination
16.15°
Orbital period
260.7 days
Perihelion
0.584 AU
Aphelion
1.013 AU
Longitude of ascending node
303.5°
Argument of periapsis
19.56°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 2.8 LD
0.0071 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
7.239

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 7).

Observations used
12
Data arc
24 hours
First observed
24 January 2026
Last observed
25 January 2026
Residual RMS
0.4 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
27 January 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
28.27

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 21 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2026 BN5 at 2031-01-24 15:41 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2031-01-24 15:41 UTC close approach of 2026 BN5. Catalogue miss distance 6.87 LD · 2.64 × 10⁶ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2031-01-21 to 2031-01-27, 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 22 Jan 27 Jan 6.87 LD · 2.64 × 10⁶ km 2031-01-24 15:41 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2031-01-24 15:41 UTC close approach of 2026 BN5. Catalogue miss distance 6.87 LD · 2.64 × 10⁶ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2031-01-21 to 2031-01-27, 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
2027-11-16 21:37:00 Venus 0.1286 AU 50.0 LD 15 km/s
2031-01-24 15:41:00 Earth 0.0177 AU 6.9 LD 9.4 km/s
2036-01-30 06:59:00 Earth 0.0754 AU 29.3 LD 9.1 km/s
2041-02-06 14:33:00 Earth 0.1406 AU 54.7 LD 9.5 km/s
2041-06-06 00:15:00 Venus 0.1468 AU 57.1 LD 15.1 km/s
2054-12-13 00:09:00 Venus 0.1339 AU 52.1 LD 15.1 km/s
2068-01-20 03:07:00 Earth 0.1384 AU 53.8 LD 12.2 km/s
2073-01-20 13:04:00 Earth 0.0576 AU 22.4 LD 10.4 km/s
2078-01-23 10:29:00 Earth 0.007 AU 2.7 LD 9.5 km/s
2078-01-23 20:10:00 Moon 0.0061 AU 2.4 LD 9.7 km/s

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

Sources