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Asteroid Near-Earth Potentially hazardous

2016 DL

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(2016 DL)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.685 AU
True anomaly
113.66°
Distance from Earth
0.857 AU
As of
15 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.

Sun Earth — 0.997 AU from the Sun Earth 2016 DL — 0.685 AU from the Sun 2016 DL
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2016 DL is 0.857 AU from Earth today (7.1 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
11h 05m 52s
Declination
+16° 29′ 21″
Constellation
Leo
Distance from Earth
0.86 AU
Elongation from the Sun
43.1° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

Favours the northern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far south.

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
0.714 AU
Eccentricity
0.4712
Inclination
23.85°
Orbital period
220.5 days
Perihelion
0.378 AU
Aphelion
1.051 AU
Longitude of ascending node
290.11°
Argument of periapsis
33.18°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 18.5 LD
0.0476 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
7.883

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 1).

Observations used
84
Data arc
15.09 years
First observed
16 January 2010
Last observed
16 February 2025
Residual RMS
0.55 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
16 February 2025

Physical properties

Mean radius
0.11 km

Visual & observation

Geometric albedo
0.103
Absolute magnitude (H)
21.4

Discovery & classification

Also known as 2010 BY20

Aten Near-Earth Object Potentially Hazardous Asteroid

Close approaches 171 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2016 DL at 2048-01-18 03:55 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2048-01-18 03:55 UTC close approach of 2016 DL. Catalogue miss distance 53.1 LD · 2.04 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2048-01-15 to 2048-01-21, 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 south of the ecliptic. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. Sun 53.1 LD · 2.04 × 10⁷ km 2048-01-18 03:55 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2048-01-18 03:55 UTC close approach of 2016 DL. Catalogue miss distance 53.1 LD · 2.04 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2048-01-15 to 2048-01-21, 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 south 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
2048-01-18 03:55:00 Earth 0.1364 AU 53.1 LD 13.7 km/s
2051-01-15 08:26:00 Earth 0.0593 AU 23.1 LD 15 km/s
2053-05-16 20:36:00 Venus 0.1205 AU 46.9 LD 23.9 km/s
2053-12-26 23:45:00 Venus 0.1072 AU 41.7 LD 21.2 km/s
2054-01-15 17:08:00 Earth 0.0778 AU 30.3 LD 17.1 km/s
2054-08-09 08:36:00 Venus 0.1376 AU 53.6 LD 19.3 km/s
2057-01-17 21:27:00 Earth 0.1703 AU 66.3 LD 19.9 km/s
2058-01-19 01:43:00 Merc 0.0877 AU 34.1 LD 32.1 km/s
2058-01-19 01:43:00 Mercury 0.0877 AU 34.1 LD 32.1 km/s
2059-04-05 08:25:00 Merc 0.0678 AU 26.4 LD 30.6 km/s

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

Sources