Stay up to date with notifications from The IndependentNotifications can be managed in browser preferences.Jump to contentThank you for registeringPlease refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged inAllNewsSportCultureLifestyleA newly-discovered asteroid, 2026 JH2, made an unusually close pass of Earth on Monday evening, May 18, at 10pm BST (5pm EDT). Discovered last week by astronomers in Arizona, the asteroid came within 91,000 kilometers (57,000 miles) of Earth, which is less than a quarter of the distance to the Moon and closer than some satellites. Measuring up to 35 meters (115 feet) across, the asteroid is larger than a blue whale and comparable in size to the Chelyabinsk meteor that exploded over Russia in 2013. Astronomers confirm that Asteroid 2026 JH2 poses no risk to Earth or the Moon, but its proximity would allow for observation with telescopes and binoculars. The Virtual Telescope Project broadcast a live stream of the flyby which started at 8:45pm BST on Monday, and the asteroid is not expected to pass by Earth again until 2060. In fullAsteroid the size of a blue whale to skim past Earth today – and you can see itThank you for registeringPlease refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in

On May 18, an asteroid about the size of Chicago’s Cloud Gate will fly four times closer to Earth than the moon.

The livestream will begin at 3:45 p.m. EDT on May 18, bringing near real time views of the asteroid from robotic telescopes in Italy, weather permitting.

An asteroid named 2026JH2 will swing by Earth on Monday, passing four times closer than our distance to the moon.

L'oggetto 2026JH2, scoperto lo scorso 10 maggio dagli astronomi del Mount Lemmon Survey di Tucson, in Arizona, passerà "vicino" al nostro pianeta. Un evento spaziale, che si potrà…

Astronomers only discovered Asteroid 2026 JH2 a week ago, and now it's paying us a visit.

How Did We Miss the Asteroid That Will Narrowly Miss Us?: Space still harbors surprises aplenty, even with our rapidly evolving technologies

An asteroid roughly the size of one to two school buses will soon fly by Earth and no one knew it existed until last week.

Astronomers did not know about the space rock until about a week ago.

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Asteroid 2026 JH2 sailed came within 50,000 miles of Earth - about a quarter of the distance to the Moon - and was only spotted by experts just a few days ago