According to the European Space Agency, the recently discovered asteroid 2026JH2 will safely pass by Earth today, May 18. CNN reported this.
It is reported that astronomers at the Mount Lemmon Survey in Tucson, Arizona, observed this space object on May 10 and named it 2026JH2. The asteroid belongs to the 'Apollo' class and moves along a trajectory that crosses Earth's orbit around the Sun.
According to scientists' calculations, the asteroid will approach Earth at its closest point to approximately 91,593 kilometers. This is about 24 percent of the distance between Earth and the Moon, which is considered much further than the orbit of geosynchronous satellites.
Richard Binzel noted that although the asteroid passes at a relatively close distance, it poses no threat. He says such small space objects pass by Earth frequently and this is a common astronomical phenomenon.
According to experts, 2026JH2 originated from the asteroid belt located between Mars and Jupiter. Its exact size is not yet fully known, as optical telescopes mainly record the brightness of the object.
It is estimated that the asteroid's diameter could be between 15 and 30 meters.
Scientists view this approach not as a dangerous situation, but as another routine cosmic event. At the same time, it is noted that because the movement of small asteroids can change over time, it is difficult to accurately predict their future orbits.
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