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Asteroid Near-Earth

2016 EF156

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(2016 EF156)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.065 AU
True anomaly
129.77°
Distance from Earth
0.771 AU
As of
22 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 — 0.995 AU from the Sun Earth 2016 EF156 — 1.065 AU from the Sun 2016 EF156
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2016 EF156 is 0.771 AU from Earth today (6.4 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
10h 17m 03s
Declination
+43° 18′ 17″
Constellation
Ursa Major
Distance from Earth
0.77 AU
Elongation from the Sun
73.22° — well clear of the Sun

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
0.951 AU
Eccentricity
0.4504
Inclination
22.08°
Orbital period
338.8 days
Perihelion
0.523 AU
Aphelion
1.379 AU
Longitude of ascending node
354.81°
Argument of periapsis
305.1°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 6.6 LD
0.0169 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.179

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 7).

Observations used
90
Data arc
9 days
First observed
8 March 2016
Last observed
17 March 2016
Residual RMS
0.46 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
24.7

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 42 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2016 EF156 at 2028-03-08 08:07 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-03-08 08:07 UTC close approach of 2016 EF156. Catalogue miss distance 128.7 LD · 4.95 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-03-05 to 2028-03-11, 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 128.7 LD · 4.95 × 10⁷ km 2028-03-08 08:07 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-03-08 08:07 UTC close approach of 2016 EF156. Catalogue miss distance 128.7 LD · 4.95 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-03-05 to 2028-03-11, 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
2028-03-08 08:07:00 Earth 0.3308 AU 128.7 LD 13 km/s
2029-03-15 13:43:00 Earth 0.0728 AU 28.4 LD 19.4 km/s
2030-02-27 13:48:00 Earth 0.4948 AU 192.6 LD 31.8 km/s
2041-03-16 09:01:00 Earth 0.2341 AU 91.1 LD 13.4 km/s
2042-03-11 22:28:00 Earth 0.1894 AU 73.7 LD 22.6 km/s
2054-03-19 07:23:00 Earth 0.1207 AU 47.0 LD 15 km/s
2055-03-07 18:17:00 Earth 0.3068 AU 119.4 LD 26 km/s
2067-03-18 22:49:00 Earth 0.0474 AU 18.5 LD 16.6 km/s
2079-03-02 15:27:00 Earth 0.3849 AU 149.8 LD 13.1 km/s
2080-03-17 14:49:00 Earth 0.0205 AU 8.0 LD 17.4 km/s

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

Sources