2026 RD is an asteroid in the Apollo orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.8 AU to 1.22 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 370.2 days. Orbit from the JPL solution of 24 September 2026.
Where is it now
- Distance from Sun
- 0.824 AU
- True anomaly
- 325.38°
- Distance from Earth
- 0.232 AU
- As of
- 3 November 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.
In the sky
- Right ascension
- 11h 57m 40s
- Declination
- -09° 50′ 21″
- Constellation
- Virgo
- Distance from Earth
- 0.23 AU
- Elongation from the Sun
- 39.06° — 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.
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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
- 1.009 AU
- Eccentricity
- 0.2077
- Inclination
- 2.71°
- Orbital period
- 370.2 days
- Perihelion
- 0.799 AU
- Aphelion
- 1.219 AU
- Longitude of ascending node
- 157.27°
- Argument of periapsis
- 288.53°
- Epoch · J2000
- 2461200.5
- Orbit class · APO
- Apollo
- Earth MOID · 2.1 LD
- 0.0054 AU
- Tisserand (Jupiter)
- 6.018
Orbit quality
Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).
- Observations used
- 18
- Data arc
- 3 days
- First observed
- 2 September 2026
- Last observed
- 5 September 2026
- Residual RMS
- 0.6 ″
- Solution · Otto Matic
- 24 September 2026
Visual & observation
- Absolute magnitude (H)
- 28.66
Discovery & classification
Close approaches 39 on record
Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-08-19 06:42 UTC close approach of 2026 RD. Catalogue miss distance 48.5 LD · 1.86 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-08-16 to 2027-08-22, 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. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate.
| When (UTC) | Body | Distance | Lunar distances | Relative speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-11-25 06:40:00 | Venus | 0.095 AU | 37.0 LD | 2.5 km/s |
| 2027-08-19 06:42:00 | Earth | 0.1246 AU | 48.5 LD | 3.7 km/s |
| 2027-10-10 11:16:00 | Earth | 0.127 AU | 49.4 LD | 3.7 km/s |
| 2028-07-15 02:59:00 | Earth | 0.1891 AU | 73.6 LD | 4.9 km/s |
| 2028-11-20 16:37:00 | Earth | 0.1768 AU | 68.8 LD | 5.8 km/s |
| 2029-12-21 08:20:00 | Earth | 0.1841 AU | 71.6 LD | 6.3 km/s |
| 2031-01-22 07:02:00 | Earth | 0.1589 AU | 61.8 LD | 5.3 km/s |
| 2031-05-02 07:40:00 | Earth | 0.1701 AU | 66.2 LD | 4.4 km/s |
| 2032-03-16 08:13:00 | Earth | 0.0759 AU | 29.5 LD | 3.8 km/s |
| 2033-03-23 08:58:00 | Earth | 0.0515 AU | 20.1 LD | 7.3 km/s |
Next ten from today. 1 lunar distance = 384,400 km. Source: JPL close-approach data.
Sources
- visual properties: JPL SBDB (lookup)
- orbital elements: JPL SBDB