Posted on 05/16/2026 6:32:10 AM PDT by BenLurkin
A hefty, never-before-seen asteroid is racing toward Earth at around 20,000 mph (32,000 km/h) and will zoom past our planet closer than some satellites on Monday (May 18), scientists say. You can watch the unusually close encounter for yourself, even if you don't have access to stargazing equipment.
The asteroid, dubbed 2026 JH2, was discovered May 10 by astronomers at the Mount Lemmon Observatory near Tucson, Arizona, who also spotted the superbright Comet Lemmon last year. The space rock, which has since been verified by other observatories across the globe, likely circles the sun every 3.7 years on an elliptical orbit that takes it as far out as Jupiter, according to the Small-Body Database Lookup from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
2026 JH2 is up to 115 feet (35 meters) across, or just above the maximum length of Earth's largest animal, the blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus). This puts the space rock on a par with the Chelyabinsk meteor, which spectacularly exploded above Russia in 2013 and is the largest space rock to have entered Earth's atmosphere in nearly 120 years.
At around 6 p.m. EDT Monday, 2026 JH2 will shoot over Earth's surface at an altitude of around 56,000 miles (91,000 kilometers) — around a quarter the distance between our planet and the moon. At this height, the hefty space rock will sail over most of Earth's satellites but be closer to us than a handful of spacecraft, such as the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). (There is currently no suggestion that these spacecraft are at risk of being hit by 2026 JH2.)
Due to limited observations, there is some level of uncertainty about how close the asteroid may get to Earth, scientists say. However, there is zero chance that it will impact our planet.
(Excerpt) Read more at livescience.com ...
“likely circles the sun every 3.7 years”
11/3.7=2.97297...
Eleven years from now is circa three orbits.
Odd that it’s only recently discovered.
https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/tools/sbdb_lookup.html#/?sstr=2026%20JH2
SMOD 2026
However, there is zero chance that it will impact our planet.
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This is scientists saying this, right?
Time to take out an asteroid insurance policy.
Forgive me for correcting you, but her name is Tea Leoni…🙂
I like bowls of Petunias.
So long and thanks for all the fish.
WHY didn’t they protect the Jaguar?
Okay that was way before it became Faguar
-PJ
Astronomers detect rare atmosphere on small Kuiper Belt object, Unexpected atmosphere ,LOL
Scary $#!+ is it not. They found this thing a couple of weeks ago and here it is coming within 25000 miles of Earth? That’s a near miss of an extinction event.
That’s a near miss of an extinction event.
That Blue Whale looks a lot like a Sperm Whale
-PJ
Paging Douglas Adams
Know that rahter largish meteors smack into earth’s atmosphere on a regular basis. Blow up with the power of a small nuke. A few years back a commercial plane was flying over the Med, at night, and one blew up within sight of the passengers.
I’d guess the drink cart was ordered out a couple of minutes later.
For those unfamiliar with the size of blue whales, think Rosie O’Donut.
I don’t see the Earth on that graphic. Is it too late? Are we already gone? O, the Hugh Manatee. And I was going to go out for a breakfast burrito. 😩
Couldn't they have named it something like Nemo? I know, that name's already taken.....
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