Ostrich-sized asteroid 2026 SZ2
0.06 LD · ~2 m
Drawn to scale.
Silhouette: Marie Attard, PhyloPic (PDM)
2026 SZ2 passes inside geosynchronous orbit, about 23,064 km from Earth's centre (0.06× the distance to the Moon). It is 1–5 m across (estimated). If a rock this size hit Earth, it would burn up as a bright fireball high in the atmosphere; at most, small meteorites reach the ground. Astronomers spot one this size passing inside geosynchronous orbit about 9 times a year, and many more pass unseen. It misses Earth on this pass. NASA's Sentry impact monitoring gives it about a 1 in 8,300 chance of hitting Earth on a later pass between 2078 and 2125; odds like these usually drop to zero as more observations come in.
For the background, read Impact risk in Asteroids.
Get a heads-up on the next close approach
Asteroid Alerts sends a push when something worth seeing happens — a big fireball, a close asteroid pass, a meteor shower peak or an aurora storm. Free.
One email a week
What’s passing, what’s visible, what hit.