2026 JH2 is one of 73 known asteroids to pass within 1 lunar distance of Earth in 2026. Based on nominal LD distance, it is expected to become the 9th closest known asteroid flyby within 1 LD recorded so far this year.
The object was first observed by the Mt. Lemmon Survey, Arizona, U.S., at 04:46 UTC on May 10 — about 8 days and 16 hours before closest approach.
The asteroid has an estimated diameter between 16 and 35 m (52 and 115 feet), based on an absolute magnitude of 26.1.
JH2 is expected to pass Earth at a relative velocity of 9.17 km/s (5.70 mi/s) at 21:23 UTC on May 18. NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) lists a rarity value of 2 for the encounter.
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) classifies 2026 JH2 as an Apollo-class near-Earth object, while the MPC currently lists the orbit type as Amor. JPL gives the object’s semimajor axis as 2.43186 AU, eccentricity as 0.58451, inclination as 6.024°, perihelion distance as 1.01041 AU, and aphelion distance as 3.85331 AU.
The current JPL orbit solution is based on 23 observations over a 2-day data arc and has a condition code of 9 on a scale from 0 to 9, where 0 indicates a well-determined orbit and 9 indicates very high orbital uncertainty.
Minor Planet Center (MPC) logged a total of 24 observations from 04:46 UTC on May 10 to 04:11 UTC on May 12, with 23 observations used and an uncertainty value of 8.
References:
1 Asteroid 2026 JH2 – JPL/SSD — Accessed May 13, 2026
2 Asteroid 2026 JH2 — IAU/MPC — Accessed May 13, 2026