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Asteroid Near-Earth

2016 GY2

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(2016 GY2)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.063 AU
True anomaly
224.57°
Distance from Earth
2.006 AU
As of
21 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 GY2 — 1.063 AU from the Sun 2016 GY2
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2016 GY2 is 2.006 AU from Earth today (16.7 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
12h 55m 47s
Declination
-06° 41′ 03″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
2 AU
Elongation from the Sun
13.44° — too close to the Sun to observe

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
0.92 AU
Eccentricity
0.2943
Inclination
9.35°
Orbital period
322.1 days
Perihelion
0.649 AU
Aphelion
1.19 AU
Longitude of ascending node
190.47°
Argument of periapsis
127.3°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 4.3 LD
0.0109 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.451

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 5).

Observations used
34
Data arc
3 days
First observed
2 April 2016
Last observed
5 April 2016
Residual RMS
0.45 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
26.1

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 154 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2016 GY2 at 2029-11-23 21:47 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2029-11-23 21:47 UTC close approach of 2016 GY2. Catalogue miss distance 62.9 LD · 2.42 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2029-11-20 to 2029-11-26, 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 62.9 LD · 2.42 × 10⁷ km 2029-11-23 21:47 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2029-11-23 21:47 UTC close approach of 2016 GY2. Catalogue miss distance 62.9 LD · 2.42 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2029-11-20 to 2029-11-26, 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
2028-01-14 06:08:00 Venus 0.0887 AU 34.5 LD 14.8 km/s
2029-11-23 21:47:00 Earth 0.1616 AU 62.9 LD 7.6 km/s
2030-08-02 10:30:00 Earth 0.3821 AU 148.7 LD 13 km/s
2031-04-04 02:26:00 Earth 0.0265 AU 10.3 LD 10.6 km/s
2035-10-13 17:55:00 Venus 0.1319 AU 51.3 LD 14.3 km/s
2036-12-12 12:49:00 Earth 0.2569 AU 100.0 LD 16 km/s
2037-09-07 20:17:00 Earth 0.3494 AU 136.0 LD 12.5 km/s
2038-03-07 04:32:00 Earth 0.2021 AU 78.6 LD 7.6 km/s
2039-03-20 08:08:00 Earth 0.4672 AU 181.8 LD 23.9 km/s
2041-12-10 01:35:00 Venus 0.1022 AU 39.8 LD 10.4 km/s

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

Sources