Asteroid 2026 TU3 flew past Earth on October 7 at 02:51 UTC, passing about 318,000 km from the planet's centre.

That is 0.83 lunar distances, or roughly 198,000 miles. The Moon orbits at about 384,000 km from Earth.

The space rock was moving at 14.28 km per second at closest approach. NASA's CNEOS tracked the flyby.

2026 TU3 is an Apollo-type near-Earth object. It was first observed only on October 6, a day before the pass.

Its orbit is still uncertain, with a condition code of 8. More observations will refine its path.

The object is not classified as potentially hazardous. No diameter has been measured for it yet.

Small asteroids pass near Earth often. Most are spotted only days before or after their closest approach.

Space agencies track thousands of such objects. Early detection helps rule out any future impact risk.

NASA's planetary defence office catalogues near-Earth objects. None of the known large ones threatens Earth this century.