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Asteroid Near-Earth

2026 KT1

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(2026 KT1)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.824 AU
True anomaly
298.65°
Distance from Earth
0.247 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 KT1 — 0.824 AU from the Sun 2026 KT1
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2026 KT1 is 0.247 AU from Earth today (2.1 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
14h 18m 06s
Declination
+28° 31′ 15″
Constellation
Boötes
Distance from Earth
0.25 AU
Elongation from the Sun
40.24° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

Favours the northern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far south.

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
0.912 AU
Eccentricity
0.1625
Inclination
22.39°
Orbital period
318 days
Perihelion
0.764 AU
Aphelion
1.06 AU
Longitude of ascending node
238.68°
Argument of periapsis
210.96°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 7.5 LD
0.0193 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.47

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
60
Data arc
4 days
First observed
21 May 2026
Last observed
25 May 2026
Residual RMS
0.37 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
16 June 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
25.75

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 45 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2026 KT1 at 2046-05-19 17:17 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2046-05-19 17:17 UTC close approach of 2026 KT1. Catalogue miss distance 42.4 LD · 1.63 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2046-05-16 to 2046-05-22, 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. 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 42.4 LD · 1.63 × 10⁷ km 2046-05-19 17:17 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2046-05-19 17:17 UTC close approach of 2026 KT1. Catalogue miss distance 42.4 LD · 1.63 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2046-05-16 to 2046-05-22, 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. 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
2026-11-13 02:03:00 Venus 0.0551 AU 21.5 LD 15.9 km/s
2037-04-27 15:22:00 Venus 0.0869 AU 33.8 LD 16.7 km/s
2046-05-19 17:17:00 Earth 0.109 AU 42.4 LD 12.6 km/s
2053-05-20 03:27:00 Earth 0.0923 AU 35.9 LD 11.2 km/s
2062-07-20 18:30:00 Venus 0.0987 AU 38.4 LD 15.9 km/s
2073-01-02 07:51:00 Venus 0.0546 AU 21.2 LD 16 km/s
2073-05-19 05:17:00 Earth 0.03 AU 11.7 LD 11.6 km/s
2080-05-20 19:34:00 Earth 0.1391 AU 54.1 LD 11.4 km/s
2083-06-18 22:33:00 Venus 0.0594 AU 23.1 LD 16.1 km/s
2093-12-02 02:19:00 Venus 0.0844 AU 32.8 LD 16.6 km/s

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

Sources