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<\/sup> closest known asteroid flyby within 1 LD recorded so far this year.<\/p>\n The object was first observed by the Mt. Lemmon Survey, Arizona, U.S., at 04:46 UTC on May 10 \u2014 about 8 days and 16 hours before closest approach.<\/p>\n The asteroid has an estimated diameter between 16 and 35 m (52 and 115 feet), based on an absolute magnitude of 26.1.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) lists a rarity value of 2 for the encounter.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s semimajor axis as 2.43186 AU, eccentricity as 0.58451, inclination as 6.024\u00b0, perihelion distance as 1.01041 AU, and aphelion distance as 3.85331 AU.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n References:<\/p>\n![\"asteroid](\"https:\/\/watchers.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/asteroid-2026-jh2-orbit-diagram-1024x708.webp\")