Asteroid (2018 SP2)
Closest pass on 2026-Sep-30 20:54 TDB (Julian Date: 2461314.37097502)
Key Facts
- On 2026-Sep-30 20:54, asteroid (2018 SP2) passed Earth at a nominal distance of 1,930,000 km (5.01 lunar distances).
- At closest approach, the object was traveling at 14.3 km/s relative to Earth.
- The object has an estimated size of 38.9 m, which is about 3 school buses.
- The miss distance was just over 5 times the distance to the Moon.
- Hazard classification: 25 to 50 meters. Can produce a low-altitude airburst or surface crater capable of flattening forests over hundreds of square kilometers and devastating a metropolitan area, comparable to the 1908 Tunguska event.
Visual Scale Comparison
| Target | 39 m |
|---|---|
| Smaller | blue whale: 25 m |
| Larger | Boeing 747: 70.6 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 | 2018 SP2 |
|---|---|
| Full Object Name | (2018 SP2) |
| Nominal Miss Distance | 1,930,000 km (5.01 lunar distances / 0.0128818507397774 au) |
| 3-Sigma Minimum Distance | 434,559.388 km (1.130 LD) |
| Relative Velocity (v_rel) | 14.2601518512425 km/s (about 2 ISS orbital speeds) |
| Velocity at Infinity (v_inf) | 14.2456397271186 km/s |
| Time Uncertainty (3-sigma) | 13:24 |
| Absolute Magnitude (H) | 24.8 mag |
| Orbit Solution ID | 3 (NASA JPL Small-Body Database) |
| Inside Moon Orbit | No |
| Inside Geostationary Ring | No |
Cite this page
Permanent URL: https://whatnearlyhitus.com/approaches/2026-Sep-30/2018-sp2/ | Machine-readable twin: index.json
APA:
What Nearly Hit Us Project. (2026). Asteroid (2018 SP2) Close Approach on 2026-Sep-30 20:54. What Nearly Hit Us. Retrieved from https://whatnearlyhitus.com/approaches/2026-Sep-30/2018-sp2/MLA:
"Asteroid (2018 SP2) Close Approach on 2026-Sep-30 20:54." What Nearly Hit Us, What Nearly Hit Us Project, 2026-09-24, https://whatnearlyhitus.com/approaches/2026-Sep-30/2018-sp2/.BibTeX:
@misc{approach_2018SP2_202630,
title = {Asteroid (2018 SP2) Close Approach on 2026-Sep-30 20:54},
author = {{What Nearly Hit Us Project}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://whatnearlyhitus.com/approaches/2026-Sep-30/2018-sp2/},
note = {Primary upstream source: NASA/JPL CNEOS CAD API}
}