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Asteroid Near-Earth

2016 EL27

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(2016 EL27)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.073 AU
True anomaly
192.15°
Distance from Earth
1.769 AU
As of
20 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 — 0.996 AU from the Sun Earth 2016 EL27 — 1.073 AU from the Sun 2016 EL27
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2016 EL27 is 1.769 AU from Earth today (14.7 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
11h 36m 51s
Declination
-01° 18′ 57″
Constellation
Leo
Distance from Earth
1.77 AU
Elongation from the Sun
32.56° — 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.

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
0.878 AU
Eccentricity
0.2299
Inclination
15.58°
Orbital period
300.6 days
Perihelion
0.676 AU
Aphelion
1.08 AU
Longitude of ascending node
166.55°
Argument of periapsis
145.6°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 11.0 LD
0.0283 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.695

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
28
Data arc
11 days
First observed
3 March 2016
Last observed
14 March 2016
Residual RMS
0.42 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
26.1

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 171 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2016 EL27 at 2029-09-12 20:29 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2029-09-12 20:29 UTC close approach of 2016 EL27. Catalogue miss distance 118.2 LD · 4.54 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2029-09-09 to 2029-09-15, 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. Sun 118.2 LD · 4.54 × 10⁷ km 2029-09-12 20:29 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2029-09-12 20:29 UTC close approach of 2016 EL27. Catalogue miss distance 118.2 LD · 4.54 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2029-09-09 to 2029-09-15, 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.

JPL Horizons

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2029-09-12 20:29:00 Earth 0.3038 AU 118.2 LD 13 km/s
2030-03-12 05:25:00 Earth 0.0668 AU 26.0 LD 10.9 km/s
2033-12-19 09:40:00 Earth 0.3728 AU 145.1 LD 14.9 km/s
2034-07-25 00:30:00 Earth 0.3739 AU 145.5 LD 12.9 km/s
2035-03-04 17:10:00 Earth 0.4411 AU 171.7 LD 21.4 km/s
2038-10-24 16:50:00 Earth 0.2607 AU 101.4 LD 10.3 km/s
2039-02-17 19:47:00 Earth 0.1806 AU 70.3 LD 8.7 km/s
2043-08-31 17:56:00 Earth 0.3244 AU 126.2 LD 13.4 km/s
2044-03-11 11:15:00 Earth 0.159 AU 61.9 LD 13.2 km/s
2047-12-14 22:12:00 Earth 0.308 AU 119.9 LD 11.6 km/s

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

Sources