Asteroid 679786 (2020 QG3)
Closest pass on 2026-Oct-16 03:34 TDB (Julian Date: 2461329.648460039)
Key Facts
- On 2026-Oct-16 03:34, asteroid 679786 (2020 QG3) passed Earth at a nominal distance of 8,240,000 km (21.4 lunar distances).
- At closest approach, the object was traveling at 10.1 km/s relative to Earth.
- The object has an estimated size of 203 m, which is about 2 football pitches.
- The miss distance was about 21 times the distance to the Moon.
- Hazard classification: 140 to 1,000 meters. Causes widespread continental destruction, severe climatic cooling from injected dust, and potentially lethal ocean tsunamis if hitting water; Congress designated 140 meters as the threshold for mandatory congressional NEO tracking.
Visual Scale Comparison
| Target | 203 m |
|---|---|
| Smaller | Great Pyramid: 138 m |
| Larger | Eiffel Tower: 330 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 | 679786 |
|---|---|
| Full Object Name | 679786 (2020 QG3) |
| Nominal Miss Distance | 8,240,000 km (21.4 lunar distances / 0.0551087173176135 au) |
| 3-Sigma Minimum Distance | 8,244,124.069 km (21.447 LD) |
| Relative Velocity (v_rel) | 10.1435819856198 km/s (about 11 rifle bullets) |
| Velocity at Infinity (v_inf) | 10.1388143529757 km/s |
| Time Uncertainty (3-sigma) | < 00:01 |
| Absolute Magnitude (H) | 21.22 mag |
| Orbit Solution ID | 65 (NASA JPL Small-Body Database) |
| Inside Moon Orbit | No |
| Inside Geostationary Ring | No |
Cite this page
Permanent URL: https://whatnearlyhitus.com/approaches/2026-Oct-16/679786-2020-qg3/ | Machine-readable twin: index.json
APA:
What Nearly Hit Us Project. (2026). Asteroid 679786 (2020 QG3) Close Approach on 2026-Oct-16 03:34. What Nearly Hit Us. Retrieved from https://whatnearlyhitus.com/approaches/2026-Oct-16/679786-2020-qg3/MLA:
"Asteroid 679786 (2020 QG3) Close Approach on 2026-Oct-16 03:34." What Nearly Hit Us, What Nearly Hit Us Project, 2026-09-24, https://whatnearlyhitus.com/approaches/2026-Oct-16/679786-2020-qg3/.BibTeX:
@misc{approach_679786_202616,
title = {Asteroid 679786 (2020 QG3) Close Approach on 2026-Oct-16 03:34},
author = {{What Nearly Hit Us Project}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://whatnearlyhitus.com/approaches/2026-Oct-16/679786-2020-qg3/},
note = {Primary upstream source: NASA/JPL CNEOS CAD API}
}