Asteroid (2026 RP39)
Closest pass on 2026-Oct-03 12:03 TDB (Julian Date: 2461317.002176622)
Key Facts
- On 2026-Oct-03 12:03, asteroid (2026 RP39) passed Earth at a nominal distance of 2,340,000 km (6.08 lunar distances).
- At closest approach, the object was traveling at 6.14 km/s relative to Earth.
- The object has an estimated size of 20.8 m, which is about one and a half school buses.
- The miss distance was just over 6 times the distance to the Moon.
- Hazard classification: 10 to 25 meters. Produces a powerful high-altitude shockwave capable of shattering windows, damaging roofs, and producing minor local injuries like the 2013 Chelyabinsk event.
Visual Scale Comparison
| Target | 21 m |
|---|---|
| Smaller | school bus: 12 m |
| Larger | tennis court: 23.8 m |
Object size compared to known reference benchmarks.
Miss Distance Orbital Dial
Concentric orbital rings showing Earth, Moon orbit, and asteroid trajectory.
Astrometric & Orbital Parameters
| Designation | 2026 RP39 |
|---|---|
| Full Object Name | (2026 RP39) |
| Nominal Miss Distance | 2,340,000 km (6.08 lunar distances / 0.0156299005909237 au) |
| 3-Sigma Minimum Distance | 2,311,846.206 km (6.014 LD) |
| Relative Velocity (v_rel) | 6.13866637275621 km/s (0.801 times the size of a ISS orbital velocity) |
| Velocity at Infinity (v_inf) | 6.11083287403775 km/s |
| Time Uncertainty (3-sigma) | 00:10 |
| Absolute Magnitude (H) | 26.165 mag |
| Orbit Solution ID | 2 (NASA JPL Small-Body Database) |
| Inside Moon Orbit | No |
| Inside Geostationary Ring | No |
Cite this page
Permanent URL: https://whatnearlyhitus.com/approaches/2026-Oct-03/2026-rp39/ | Machine-readable twin: index.json
APA:
What Nearly Hit Us Project. (2026). Asteroid (2026 RP39) Close Approach on 2026-Oct-03 12:03. What Nearly Hit Us. Retrieved from https://whatnearlyhitus.com/approaches/2026-Oct-03/2026-rp39/MLA:
"Asteroid (2026 RP39) Close Approach on 2026-Oct-03 12:03." What Nearly Hit Us, What Nearly Hit Us Project, 2026-09-24, https://whatnearlyhitus.com/approaches/2026-Oct-03/2026-rp39/.BibTeX:
@misc{approach_2026RP39_202603,
title = {Asteroid (2026 RP39) Close Approach on 2026-Oct-03 12:03},
author = {{What Nearly Hit Us Project}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://whatnearlyhitus.com/approaches/2026-Oct-03/2026-rp39/},
note = {Primary upstream source: NASA/JPL CNEOS CAD API}
}