Newly discovered NEO Asteroid 2026 HZ3 Close Approach Report and NEO Profile by Astrophyzix Digital Observatory

Asteroid (2026 HZ3) — 2026 NASA-Linked Preliminary Scientific Status Report
NASA JPL SBDB Solution 5 (2026-Apr-28 06:20:37)

Researched, Written and Published by: Astrophyzix Digital Observatory

Original, Timely, Verifiable Asteroid News and Planetary Defence Monitoring by Astrophyzix.com & Astrophyzix.org

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Reading Time: ~8 min Primary Data: NASA JPL SBDB / CNEOS

Classification: Apollo Near-Earth Object (NEO) SPK-ID: 54613601

Asteroid 2026 HZ3 Key Takeaways

• Newly discovered NEO: (2026 HZ3) is a recently observed Apollo-class near-Earth asteroid with a short data-arc (4 days) and a relatively high orbital uncertainty (condition code 7).
• Small object: With an absolute magnitude H ≈ 25.3, (2026 HZ3) is likely a small asteroid, on the order of a few tens of metres in diameter, depending on its surface reflectivity.
• Close approach in 2026: A nominal close approach to Earth occurs on 1 May 2026 at a distance of about 0.010 au (around 1.5 million km), well outside any impact scenario under current solutions.
• Earth MOID: The current Minimum Orbit Intersection Distance (MOID) with Earth is about 0.00497 au (~745,000 km), indicating close-approach potential but not an imminent threat.
• Preliminary orbit: Because the orbit is based on only 38 observations over 4 days, all risk and trajectory assessments are considered preliminary and will be refined as more data are collected.

Scientific consensus snapshot (preliminary)

Parameter	Status (NASA JPL SBDB Solution 5 | 2026-Apr-28 06:20:37)
Impact risk (100-year context)	No confirmed impact solution; orbit still under refinement (condition code 7).
Orbital uncertainty	Moderate–high (short 4-day data-arc, condition code 7).
2026 close approach	Nominal miss distance ~0.010 au (~1.5 million km) — a safe flyby under current solutions.
Hazard classification	NEO (Apollo). Not formally classified as a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA) at this time.
Scientific priority	Monitoring and orbit refinement; representative of small NEOs that frequently pass near Earth.

Weekly Potentially Hazardous Asteroid and NEO Close Approach Report 22 April to 28 April Official NASA Planetary Defence Data

Astrophyzix Weekly Near-Earth Object (NEO) & Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA) Close Approach Report

Written by: Astrophyzix Digital Observatory

Credit: Astrophyzix Planetary Defence Systems

Observatory Status & Data Integrity

Astrophyzix Planetary Defence reports are written using a fully dynamic, on-demand data retrieval pipeline linked directly to NASA's CNEOS NeoWs API infrastructure.

The monitoring interval is calculated at runtime and spans seven days forward from the exact timestamp of system access.

No caching layers, pre-processing, or static datasets are used. Every value presented is sourced from the most recent orbital solutions available within NASA systems at the time of query execution by the Astrophyzix Planetary Defence System.

Certain data is computed through the Astrophyzix Risk Index and presented alongside the raw data to give readers an easy to visualise scale of how notable an object is an a clear interpretation of the data.

UTC Timestamp Wed, 22 Apr 2026 20:10:55
Monitoring Window 2026-04-22 → 2026-04-28
Data Source NASA CNEOS NeoWs API (Live Stream)

Monitoring Overview

• Total NEOs tracked: 87
• Potentially Hazardous Asteroids: 8
• Objects within 10 Lunar Distances: 6
• Closest recorded approach: 2.956 LD
• Mean relative velocity: 13.7 km/s
• Largest object: 54071 (2000 GQ146) — 1418 m

Potentially Hazardous Asteroid and Near-Earth Object (NEO) Close Approach Report & Asteroid Profile for Asteroid 2026 BK2

Astrophyzix Near-Earth Object (NEO) Close Approach Report & Asteroid Profile: (2026 BK2)

Written by: Astrophyzix Digital Observatory

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Image Credit: NASA JPL SBDB

Introduction

Asteroid (2026 BK2) is an Apollo-class near-Earth object (NEO) classified as a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA). Its orbit intersects Earth's orbital region, and its size exceeds the threshold used in hazard classification frameworks.

The close approach on 2026-Apr-22 12:36 (TDB) represents a relatively close but well-understood encounter. Despite its classification, no impact risk is identified based on current orbital solutions.

Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA) news refers to verified reports of near-Earth asteroids that meet specific size and orbital proximity thresholds. Despite the classification, the vast majority of PHAs pose no impact threat during observed close approaches.

Key Takeaways

• Close approach on 2026-Apr-22 12:36 (TDB).
• Miss distance: 0.02569 AU (~10.0 LD / ~3.84 million km).
• Relative velocity: 8.13 km/s.
• Estimated diameter: ~160–350 meters (derived from H=21.05).
• Condition code 0 (extremely well constrained orbit).
• No impact threat identified.
• ARI Score: 50/100 - Notable Approach 

Scientific Consensus Snapshot

The orbital solution for (2026 BK2) is based on 125 observations spanning 2096 days (2020-07-18 to 2026-04-14). The condition code of 0 indicates a highly reliable trajectory solution. The timing uncertainty for the 2026-Apr-22 12:36 (TDB) close approach is less than one minute, confirming extremely high positional certainty.