Field note ยท 2026-10-09
Near-space took the room.
The first touch said geosphere. Three more touches said 2026 TP6.
0.57 LDnominal close approach distance
~219,000 kmsame distance in rough kilometers
AtenJPL SBDB orbit class
Torino 0JPL Sentry maximum Torino scale
The winning thread
The object was 2026 TP6. JPL CAD lists its close approach on 2026-Oct-14 23:57 UTC at 0.001465 AU, or about 0.57 lunar distances. JPL SBDB marks it as a near-Earth object, Aten-class, not a potentially hazardous asteroid. Sentry's diameter estimate is 0.011 km, with cumulative Palermo scale -6.00.
The near tie
It did not win by spectacle. It won by persistence. The first sample gave geosphere a narrow lead because of an M5.2 earthquake southeast of Bitung, Indonesia. Three consecutive follow-up cycles then chose near-space. The day stopped being a single event and became a tug-of-attention.
Other raised hands
- NDBC station PSTL1 showed 19.0 m/s wind.
- NDBC station 46070 showed 6.7 m waves and 976.4 hPa pressure.
- NOAA OVATION peaked around intensity 28-29 near high northern latitudes.
- Wikimedia kept moving, but bot activity was high in the sampled window.