Skip to content
Public Universe
Asteroid Near-Earth Potentially hazardous

16960

Add to an observing list or journal →

16960 (1998 QS52)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
4.078 AU
True anomaly
178.11°
Distance from Earth
3.67 AU
As of
11 October 2026

Two-body Kepler propagation — accurate to ~0.1% for major planets over decades, less so for highly-perturbed bodies. Use JPL Horizons for high precision.

Orbit of Mercury Orbit of Venus Orbit of Mars Sun Earth — 0.998 AU from the Sun Earth 16960 — 4.078 AU from the Sun 16960
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 16960 is 3.67 AU from Earth today (30.5 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
20h 18m 16s
Declination
-02° 09′ 29″
Constellation
Aquila
Distance from Earth
3.68 AU
Elongation from the Sun
106.5° — well clear of the Sun

Visible from both hemispheres.

From your location

See how high it is right now, whether it is up after civil twilight, and when it rises and sets where you are.

How do I find my coordinates?

Google Maps on a computer

  1. Right-click the spot where you'll be observing.
  2. The first line of the menu is the coordinates, e.g. 51.50722, -0.12758 — click it and they're copied.
  3. Paste them above.

Google Maps on a phone

  1. Press and hold the spot to drop a pin.
  2. The coordinates appear in the search bar (or on the pin's card) — tap to copy, then paste above.

A full Google Maps link works too, but the short maps.app.goo.gl share links don't carry coordinates — copy the numbers instead. We round to about a kilometre; that's all the sky calculation needs.

Know your what3words address? Paste it, e.g. ///filled.count.soap. This is optional — the three words are sent to what3words to convert them, and we don't store the address or the result.

Your location stays in your browser and is sent only for this calculation. Using a what3words address is optional; if you do, the three words go to what3words to be converted and we don't record them. Set a location first, then you can save an email alert for this object. See our privacy policy.

Two-body approximation, good to about a degree for the planets — enough to find the constellation and know whether it is up.

Orbital elements

Semi-major axis
2.201 AU
Eccentricity
0.8591
Inclination
17.51°
Orbital period
3.26 years
Perihelion
0.31 AU
Aphelion
4.091 AU
Longitude of ascending node
260.14°
Argument of periapsis
243.27°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · APO
Apollo
Earth MOID · 7.0 LD
0.0181 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.999

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
3,538
Data arc
43.31 years
First observed
14 June 1983
Last observed
6 October 2026
Residual RMS
0.42 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
7 October 2026

Physical properties

Rotation period
2.9 hours

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
14.32
Spectral type (SMASS)
Sq

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
LINEAR
Discovery date
25 August 1998
Discovery site
Socorro

Also known as 1998 QS52

Apollo Near-Earth Object Potentially Hazardous Asteroid

Close approaches 35 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 16960 at 2038-06-10 23:46 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2038-06-10 23:46 UTC close approach of 16960. Catalogue miss distance 31.6 LD · 1.22 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2038-06-07 to 2038-06-13, with a mark at UTC midnights and an arrow for the direction of motion. The circle is the Moon’s mean orbit; the Moon is plotted at closest approach. A ray shows the Sun’s direction. The labelled distance is the full separation. The drawn radius is the part that lies in the ecliptic plane. At closest approach the object is north of the ecliptic. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. Sun 8 Jun 31.6 LD · 1.22 × 10⁷ km 2038-06-10 23:46 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2038-06-10 23:46 UTC close approach of 16960. Catalogue miss distance 31.6 LD · 1.22 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2038-06-07 to 2038-06-13, with a mark at UTC midnights and an arrow for the direction of motion. The circle is the Moon’s mean orbit; the Moon is plotted at closest approach. A ray shows the Sun’s direction. The labelled distance is the full separation. The drawn radius is the part that lies in the ecliptic plane. At closest approach the object is north of the ecliptic. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate.

JPL Horizons

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2033-04-18 19:13:00 Juptr 1.5981 AU 621.9 LD 8.2 km/s
2038-06-10 23:46:00 Earth 0.0812 AU 31.6 LD 28.7 km/s
2067-10-10 00:31:00 Venus 0.1221 AU 47.5 LD 29.5 km/s
2068-12-11 17:08:00 Juptr 1.708 AU 664.7 LD 9.6 km/s
2087-06-05 11:47:00 Earth 0.1962 AU 76.4 LD 25.4 km/s
2092-08-08 09:11:00 Juptr 1.8526 AU 721.0 LD 9.4 km/s
2093-10-27 21:52:00 Mercury 0.0841 AU 32.7 LD 33.8 km/s
2093-10-27 21:52:00 Merc 0.0841 AU 32.7 LD 33.8 km/s
2100-06-20 13:21:00 Earth 0.1245 AU 48.5 LD 34.1 km/s
2106-10-26 19:40:00 Venus 0.1284 AU 50.0 LD 33.2 km/s

Next ten from today. 1 lunar distance = 384,400 km. Source: JPL close-approach data.

Sources