Near-Earth Asteroid 2026 KB very close encounter: an image – 17 May 2026.
On 18 May 2026, the near-Earth Asteroid 2026 KB will have a very close, but safe encounter with the Earth, coming as close as 231.000 km from us, 60% of the average lunar distance. Here we share the picture we have just captured.
Near-Earth Asteroid 2026 KB: 17 May 2026.
The image above comes from a single 120-second exposure, remotely taken with the “Elena” (PlaneWave 17″ + Paramount MEII + SBIG STL-6303E) robotic unit available as part of the Virtual Telescope Project in Manciano, Italy. The telescope tracked the apparent motion of the asteroid, showing as a faint dot in the center of the image, marked by an arrow: this is why the stars look like streaks.
When we captured our image, asteroid 2026 KB was at about 700.000 kilometers from us and safely approaching.
This 10-22 meter large asteroid will reach its minimum distance (about 231.000 km, 60% of the average lunar distance) from us on 18 May 2026, at 15:15 UTC (source: Nasa/JPL). Of course, there are no risks at all for our planet.
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