2012 XL16 is an asteroid in the Aten orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.81 AU to 1.16 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 356.7 days. Orbit from the JPL solution of 15 April 2021.
Where is it now
- Distance from Sun
- 1.16 AU
- True anomaly
- 179.04°
- Distance from Earth
- 1.61 AU
- As of
- 2 November 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.
In the sky
- Right ascension
- 11h 38m 59s
- Declination
- +00° 09′ 35″
- Constellation
- Virgo
- Distance from Earth
- 1.61 AU
- Elongation from the Sun
- 45.82° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn
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.
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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
- 0.984 AU
- Eccentricity
- 0.1784
- Inclination
- 3.15°
- Orbital period
- 356.7 days
- Perihelion
- 0.809 AU
- Aphelion
- 1.16 AU
- Longitude of ascending node
- 258.75°
- Argument of periapsis
- 59.09°
- Epoch · J2000
- 2461200.5
- Orbit class · ATE
- Aten
- Earth MOID · 6.8 LD
- 0.0175 AU
- Tisserand (Jupiter)
- 6.141
Orbit quality
Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).
- Observations used
- 31
- Data arc
- 10 days
- First observed
- 6 December 2012
- Last observed
- 16 December 2012
- Residual RMS
- 0.39 ″
- Solution · Otto Matic
- 15 April 2021
Visual & observation
- Absolute magnitude (H)
- 25.5
Discovery & classification
Close approaches 68 on record
Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2051-12-11 01:13 UTC close approach of 2012 XL16. Catalogue miss distance 187.7 LD · 7.22 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2051-12-08 to 2051-12-14, 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. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate.
| When (UTC) | Body | Distance | Lunar distances | Relative speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2051-12-11 01:13:00 | Earth | 0.4824 AU | 187.7 LD | 20.6 km/s |
| 2052-12-04 09:39:00 | Earth | 0.3392 AU | 132.0 LD | 16.2 km/s |
| 2053-11-28 22:08:00 | Earth | 0.1943 AU | 75.6 LD | 11.7 km/s |
| 2054-11-24 07:21:00 | Earth | 0.0514 AU | 20.0 LD | 7.3 km/s |
| 2057-08-17 00:08:00 | Earth | 0.2074 AU | 80.7 LD | 6.6 km/s |
| 2058-02-08 04:22:00 | Earth | 0.1817 AU | 70.7 LD | 5.2 km/s |
| 2058-07-18 17:43:00 | Earth | 0.2008 AU | 78.2 LD | 6.4 km/s |
| 2059-03-11 23:21:00 | Earth | 0.1573 AU | 61.2 LD | 4.5 km/s |
| 2059-06-15 00:11:00 | Earth | 0.1612 AU | 62.7 LD | 5 km/s |
| 2060-04-26 01:05:00 | Earth | 0.0628 AU | 24.4 LD | 4.5 km/s |
Next ten from today. 1 lunar distance = 384,400 km. Source: JPL close-approach data.
Sources
- visual properties: JPL SBDB (lookup)
- orbital elements: JPL SBDB