Asteroid 2026 PC6 passed Earth at 0.053 lunar distances (0.00014 AU / about 20 400 km / 12 700 miles) from the center of our planet at 00:50 UTC on August 12, 2026, according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (NASA/CNEOS). At the nominal distance, the object passed about 14 000 km (8 700 miles) above Earth’s surface, placing it inside the orbit of geostationary satellites and making it the closest asteroid flyby of the year.
2026 PC6 is one of 101 known asteroids to pass within 1 LD of Earth in 2026, as of 10:29 UTC on August 14. Based on nominal LD distance, it is the closest known asteroid flyby within 1 LD recorded so far this year.
The Minor Planet Center (MPC) noted the initial reported observation by ATLAS-TDO at Teide Observatory in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, at 01:20 UTC on August 11 – about 23 hours and 30 minutes before closest approach.
2026 PC6 is an Aten-class near-Earth asteroid with an estimated diameter of 6.8 to 15 m (22 to 49 feet). The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) Small-Body Database reports an orbit with a semimajor axis of 0.749 AU, perihelion of 0.426 AU, aphelion of 1.073 AU, eccentricity of 0.432, and inclination of 19.8 degrees.
MPC reported 101 total observations over the interval from 01:20 UTC to 23:41 UTC on August 11. Its orbit entry used 97 observations, a 1-day arc, orbit type Aten, and an uncertainty value of 5.
References:
1 Asteroid 2026 PC6 – JPL/SSD – Accessed August 14, 2026
2 2026 PC6 – IAU/MPC – Accessed August 14, 2026