Overview
- The newly discovered asteroid 2026 JH2 will sweep past at roughly 56,000–57,000 miles on Monday, and scientists say there is zero chance of impact.
- Researchers estimate the object is about 20 meters across, a size that could cause serious city-level damage if it ever struck.
- Skywatchers can track the pass with backyard telescopes, and the Virtual Telescope Project plans a live webcast from Italy.
- First spotted around May 10 by the Mount Lemmon Survey and confirmed by other observatories, the Apollo-type near-Earth object still has small position uncertainties that new observations will tighten.
- Officials point to broader planetary-defense gaps: NASA’s DART test proved deflection in principle, yet no ready-to-launch system exists today, and a planned 2027 Surveyor mission aims to find most hazardous 140-meter-class asteroids within a decade.