Near-Earth Object (NEO) Close-Approach Report: Asteroid 2026 TU3, October 7, 2026
Single-object report for asteroid 2026 TU3, compiled from JPL Close Approach Data as listed in the Astrophyzix tracker, with size and risk fields derived by the tracker. This bulletin is a catalogue report, not a live CNEOS CAD/Scout stream. Live Multi-watch CAD/Scout/Sentry tracker.
On October 7, 2026 (UTC), JPL data resolve a close approach by 2026 TU3, an Apollo-class near-Earth asteroid roughly 5 m across. It passed Earth at about 02:51 TDB (≈ 02:50 UTC) on 7 October 2026, at approximately 0.826 lunar distances (317,507 km), inside the Moon’s distance, with a relative velocity near 14.3 km/s. It is the closest of the 47 objects in the tracker’s 7–13 October window. No listed approach is on an impacting trajectory.
Close Approaches (JPL CAD)
| Body | Epoch (TDB) | Time ± | Nominal (au) | Min (au) | Max (au) | v_rel (km/s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Earth | 2026-Oct-07 02:51 | 00:02 | 0.00212 | 0.00211 | 0.00214 | 14.28 |
Source: JPL Close Approach Data (confirmed), as listed in the Astrophyzix tracker. 1 au = 149,597,870.7 km.
Orbital Dossier
2026 TU3
Heliocentric orbit as shown in the Astrophyzix tracker (rounded values). Dynamical class: APO (near-Earth asteroid orbits which cross the Earth’s orbit, similar to that of 1862 Apollo).
JPL Small-Body Database record: ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/tools/sbdb_lookup.html#/?sstr=2026 TU3
Encounter & Physical Parameters
2026 TU3 is an Apollo-class near-Earth asteroid roughly 5 m across (H 29.4; 3.5–7.9 m from the H-derived range). JPL lists its closest Earth pass at 0.826 LD at about 02:51 TDB on 7 October 2026, at 14.28 km/s, inside the Moon’s distance. It is the closest of the 47 objects in the tracker’s window (14 inside 10 LD, none PHA-class). It is not a PHA: H 29.4 is far fainter than the H 22 limit for that class, even though its Earth MOID is only 0.0016 au. The listed distance range (0.00211–0.00214 au) is narrow and the time uncertainty only ±2 min, so the pass is tightly constrained. Even its closest listed distance is about 49.5 Earth radii from Earth’s centre, so no listed approach is on an impacting trajectory.
Data Provenance - Click to View
Report
- Layout
- Astrophyzix-NEO-Daily/2.2.0 (single-object report)
- Object
- 2026 TU3
- Generated (UTC)
- Report date
Analysis
- Closest object
- 2026 TU3 at 0.826 LD
- ARI
- 47 (SAFE)
- PHA class
- No (below PHA-class threshold, derived)
- Sentry status
- Not on Sentry watchlist
- Observations used
- 14
Source 1 – JPL Close Approach Data
- Listing
- Earth, 2026-10-07 02:51 TDB, source CAD (confirmed), as shown in the Astrophyzix tracker
- Retrieved
Source 2 – Astrophyzix tracker record
- Record
- Orbit & Physical Data panel (rounded values); derived fields (size, PHA class, ARI)
- Monitoring window (TDB)
- 2026-10-07 to 2026-10-13, 47 objects listed
- Retrieved
Constants
- Astronomical unit
- 149,597,870.7 km (IAU 2012 Resolution B2)
- Lunar distance
- 384,400 km (JPL/IAU nominal mean)
- Earth mean radius
- 6,371 km (IUGG)
- TT − UTC
- 69.184 s (37 leap seconds + 32.184 s), valid 2026
Methods
- Time scale
- Close-approach epochs are TDB; UTC ≈ TDB − 69.184 s
- Diameter self-test
- D[km] = 1329 / sqrt(pv) × 10(−H/5), pv 0.25–0.05 (Bowell)
- Trajectory integration
- None (catalogue report)
Primary references: JPL Small-Body Database (ssd.jpl.nasa.gov), NASA CNEOS (cneos.jpl.nasa.gov). Object hazard status should be verified against the CNEOS Sentry table. For live CNEOS Scout and JPL Close Approach Data use the Dual-watch PHA and NEO Tracking System.
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