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Asteroid Near-Earth

2026 FC

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(2026 FC)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.668 AU
True anomaly
314.83°
Distance from Earth
0.462 AU
As of
21 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 FC — 0.668 AU from the Sun 2026 FC
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2026 FC is 0.462 AU from Earth today (3.8 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
16h 00m 02s
Declination
-23° 47′ 41″
Constellation
Scorpius
Distance from Earth
0.46 AU
Elongation from the Sun
34.15° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

Favours the southern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far north.

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
0.914 AU
Eccentricity
0.3213
Inclination
10.42°
Orbital period
319.2 days
Perihelion
0.62 AU
Aphelion
1.208 AU
Longitude of ascending node
174.16°
Argument of periapsis
236.51°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 0.5 LD
0.0012 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.473

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 5).

Observations used
57
Data arc
4 days
First observed
16 March 2026
Last observed
20 March 2026
Residual RMS
0.49 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
25 March 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
27.89

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 48 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2026 FC at 2027-07-15 20:56 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-07-15 20:56 UTC close approach of 2026 FC. Catalogue miss distance 64.9 LD · 2.5 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-07-12 to 2027-07-18, 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 64.9 LD · 2.5 × 10⁷ km 2027-07-15 20:56 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-07-15 20:56 UTC close approach of 2026 FC. Catalogue miss distance 64.9 LD · 2.5 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-07-12 to 2027-07-18, 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
2026-11-21 14:17:00 Venus 0.1482 AU 57.7 LD 9.5 km/s
2027-07-15 20:56:00 Earth 0.1668 AU 64.9 LD 10.2 km/s
2032-11-29 04:16:00 Venus 0.0549 AU 21.3 LD 11.2 km/s
2033-03-14 23:40:00 Earth 0.0526 AU 20.5 LD 9 km/s
2034-07-11 22:13:00 Earth 0.1808 AU 70.4 LD 11.7 km/s
2040-03-20 17:24:00 Earth 0.1268 AU 49.3 LD 7.8 km/s
2043-06-11 11:26:00 Venus 0.1276 AU 49.7 LD 10.7 km/s
2047-04-06 00:52:00 Earth 0.1948 AU 75.8 LD 7.7 km/s
2049-06-27 04:07:00 Venus 0.1217 AU 47.4 LD 16 km/s
2053-12-26 22:18:00 Venus 0.1477 AU 57.5 LD 8.5 km/s

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

Sources