Asteroid flybys
Asteroid 2010 VQ: when it passes Earth, and how close
Asteroid 2010 VQ should pass Earth on December 12, 2026, at about 04:55 UTC, 4.56 Moon distances away (about 1,750,000 km, or 1,090,000 miles, from Earth's center), by NASA/JPL's calculation. That's 4.56 times as far as the Moon. It's about 8 to 17 meters (26 to 56 feet) across, judged from its brightness. Its next flyby that close is expected in 2034.
Next flyby
Dec 12, 2026
About 04:55 UTC, give or take 4 minutes
How close, in Moon distances
4.56
1,750,000 km (1,090,000 miles)
How big
8 to 17 meters
Likely width, from its brightness
How sure is NASA?
JPL knows its orbit well enough to put this flyby at 4.56 Moon distances from Earth's center, and its timing give or take 4 minutes. It passes at about 4.3 km a second (9,600 miles an hour) relative to Earth.
Every flyby within 10 Moon distances, 1900 to 2200
Oldest first, in JPL's time (within about a minute of UTC). The range is JPL's, allowing for uncertainty in the orbit.
| Date | Moon distances | Range | Km from Earth's center |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9.04 | 8.98–9.09 | 3,473,721 | |
| 9.81 | 9.8–9.82 | 3,770,627 | |
| 8.3 | 8.3–8.31 | 3,191,719 | |
| 5.69 | 5.67–5.71 | 2,187,669 | |
| 6.46 | 6.45–6.46 | 2,481,372 | |
| 5.2 | 5.2–5.2 | 2,000,130 | |
| 9.88 | 9.88–9.88 | 3,797,355 | |
| 4.56 | 4.56–4.56 | 1,752,568 | |
| 1.89 | 1.88–1.91 | 727,714 | |
| 8.42 | 6.02–10.82 | 3,236,621 | |
| 8.82 | 1.18–37.13 | 3,390,237 |
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Source and notes
NASA/JPL Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS), SBDB Close Approach Data (Public domain (NASA data); credit NASA/JPL-Caltech CNEOS), as of October 22, 2026. Its orbit and details are in JPL's Small-Body Database.
One Moon distance is the Moon's average distance from Earth, about 384,400 km (238,900 miles); distances are measured from Earth's center. JPL works out each flyby from the asteroid's orbit, so flybys before it was found are calculated backward, and its range for a distance shows how sure it is. Orbits are refined as asteroids are observed, so the numbers can change. When nobody has measured an asteroid, its size is estimated from its brightness, assuming it reflects between 5% and 25% of the sunlight that hits it, as NASA does. Asteroids with any known chance of hitting Earth in the next century are on NASA's Sentry list.