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Asteroid Near-Earth

2026 QN1

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(2026 QN1)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.502 AU
True anomaly
314.65°
Distance from Earth
0.632 AU
As of
20 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 QN1 — 0.502 AU from the Sun 2026 QN1
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2026 QN1 is 0.632 AU from Earth today (5.3 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
12h 02m 21s
Declination
-05° 01′ 17″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
0.63 AU
Elongation from the Sun
25.25° — 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
0.872 AU
Eccentricity
0.4795
Inclination
5.53°
Orbital period
297.5 days
Perihelion
0.454 AU
Aphelion
1.29 AU
Longitude of ascending node
152.46°
Argument of periapsis
312.23°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 1.5 LD
0.0038 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.682

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 7).

Observations used
21
First observed
22 August 2026
Last observed
22 August 2026
Residual RMS
0.4 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
23 August 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
26.79

Discovery & classification

Listed by JPL impact monitoring; see the Sentry table for current probabilities.

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 24 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2026 QN1 at 2034-05-19 10:54 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2034-05-19 10:54 UTC close approach of 2026 QN1. Catalogue miss distance 43.2 LD · 1.66 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2034-05-16 to 2034-05-22, 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 north of the ecliptic. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. Sun 43.2 LD · 1.66 × 10⁷ km 2034-05-19 10:54 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2034-05-19 10:54 UTC close approach of 2026 QN1. Catalogue miss distance 43.2 LD · 1.66 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2034-05-16 to 2034-05-22, 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 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
2030-03-12 11:53:00 Venus 0.1406 AU 54.7 LD 24.1 km/s
2032-08-24 00:53:00 Venus 0.0622 AU 24.2 LD 20.2 km/s
2034-05-19 10:54:00 Earth 0.1111 AU 43.2 LD 11.8 km/s
2035-02-05 15:20:00 Venus 0.0237 AU 9.2 LD 16.7 km/s
2035-08-22 06:18:00 Earth 0.0882 AU 34.3 LD 16.1 km/s
2037-07-18 14:16:00 Venus 0.1058 AU 41.2 LD 12.5 km/s
2056-05-22 06:54:00 Earth 0.16 AU 62.3 LD 17.1 km/s
2057-08-22 17:22:00 Earth 0.0835 AU 32.5 LD 11.2 km/s
2061-10-31 09:47:00 Venus 0.0263 AU 10.2 LD 18.6 km/s
2064-04-13 09:45:00 Venus 0.1206 AU 46.9 LD 23.1 km/s

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

Sources