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Asteroid Near-Earth

2026 ET3

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(2026 ET3)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.522 AU
True anomaly
23.19°
Distance from Earth
0.653 AU
As of
19 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 — 0.996 AU from the Sun Earth 2026 ET3 — 0.522 AU from the Sun 2026 ET3
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2026 ET3 is 0.653 AU from Earth today (5.4 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
11h 46m 17s
Declination
-04° 12′ 52″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
0.66 AU
Elongation from the Sun
28.8° — 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
0.849 AU
Eccentricity
0.3991
Inclination
7.05°
Orbital period
285.7 days
Perihelion
0.51 AU
Aphelion
1.188 AU
Longitude of ascending node
174.22°
Argument of periapsis
224.96°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 0.1 LD
0.0002 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.865

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
50
Data arc
24 hours
First observed
15 March 2026
Last observed
16 March 2026
Residual RMS
0.3 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
16 March 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
29.84

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 82 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2026 ET3 at 2030-05-26 20:04 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2030-05-26 20:04 UTC close approach of 2026 ET3. Catalogue miss distance 69.4 LD · 2.67 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2030-05-23 to 2030-05-29, 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 north of the ecliptic. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. Sun 69.4 LD · 2.67 × 10⁷ km 2030-05-26 20:04 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2030-05-26 20:04 UTC close approach of 2026 ET3. Catalogue miss distance 69.4 LD · 2.67 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2030-05-23 to 2030-05-29, 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 north 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
2030-05-26 20:04:00 Earth 0.1784 AU 69.4 LD 8.3 km/s
2033-02-19 15:42:00 Venus 0.0975 AU 37.9 LD 15.2 km/s
2035-04-14 22:19:00 Venus 0.0978 AU 38.0 LD 14.6 km/s
2037-04-16 20:53:00 Earth 0.1925 AU 74.9 LD 8.7 km/s
2041-06-11 09:05:00 Earth 0.1724 AU 67.1 LD 14.4 km/s
2041-09-29 01:49:00 Venus 0.1013 AU 39.4 LD 12.5 km/s
2043-11-21 09:33:00 Venus 0.1171 AU 45.6 LD 17.3 km/s
2044-03-15 23:59:00 Earth 0.0473 AU 18.4 LD 9.8 km/s
2048-06-07 04:20:00 Earth 0.1483 AU 57.7 LD 8.6 km/s
2051-03-17 21:48:00 Earth 0.15 AU 58.4 LD 15.6 km/s

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

Sources