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Asteroid Near-Earth

2026 SC

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(2026 SC)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.896 AU
True anomaly
238.69°
Distance from Earth
0.112 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 SC — 0.896 AU from the Sun 2026 SC
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2026 SC is 0.112 AU from Earth today (55.9 light-seconds).

In the sky

Right ascension
14h 35m 44s
Declination
-31° 25′ 42″
Constellation
Centaurus
Distance from Earth
0.11 AU
Elongation from the Sun
24.98° — 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
0.832 AU
Eccentricity
0.3219
Inclination
4.66°
Orbital period
277.3 days
Perihelion
0.564 AU
Aphelion
1.1 AU
Longitude of ascending node
179.91°
Argument of periapsis
325.43°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 1.3 LD
0.0034 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
7.008

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
75
Data arc
10 days
First observed
14 September 2026
Last observed
24 September 2026
Residual RMS
0.36 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
26 September 2026

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
26.45

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 47 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2026 SC at 2029-07-17 19:09 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2029-07-17 19:09 UTC close approach of 2026 SC. Catalogue miss distance 30.6 LD · 1.18 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2029-07-14 to 2029-07-20, 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 30.6 LD · 1.18 × 10⁷ km 2029-07-17 19:09 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2029-07-17 19:09 UTC close approach of 2026 SC. Catalogue miss distance 30.6 LD · 1.18 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2029-07-14 to 2029-07-20, 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
2026-09-25 05:20:00 Moon 0.003 AU 1.2 LD 8.5 km/s
2026-09-25 13:47:00 Earth 0.0044 AU 1.7 LD 7.8 km/s
2026-11-15 09:57:00 Venus 0.089 AU 34.6 LD 7.6 km/s
2029-07-17 19:09:00 Earth 0.0786 AU 30.6 LD 6.7 km/s
2029-12-04 21:35:00 Venus 0.0878 AU 34.2 LD 15.1 km/s
2037-01-01 15:08:00 Venus 0.1161 AU 45.2 LD 16.7 km/s
2039-09-27 04:56:00 Earth 0.1176 AU 45.8 LD 11.3 km/s
2040-01-20 11:43:00 Venus 0.0493 AU 19.2 LD 9.4 km/s
2042-08-20 13:49:00 Earth 0.101 AU 39.3 LD 6.3 km/s
2045-07-11 01:35:00 Earth 0.1419 AU 55.2 LD 11.3 km/s

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

Sources