Skip to content
Public Universe
Asteroid Near-Earth

2016 GA3

Add to an observing list or journal →

(2016 GA3)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.073 AU
True anomaly
224.17°
Distance from Earth
1.995 AU
As of
24 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 — 0.994 AU from the Sun Earth 2016 GA3 — 1.073 AU from the Sun 2016 GA3
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2016 GA3 is 1.995 AU from Earth today (16.6 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
13h 00m 17s
Declination
-05° 13′ 22″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
1.99 AU
Elongation from the Sun
15.81° — 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
0.975 AU
Eccentricity
0.1597
Inclination
10.34°
Orbital period
351.7 days
Perihelion
0.819 AU
Aphelion
1.131 AU
Longitude of ascending node
12.75°
Argument of periapsis
303.91°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 12.4 LD
0.0318 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.177

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 5).

Observations used
29
Data arc
7 days
First observed
3 April 2016
Last observed
10 April 2016
Residual RMS
0.43 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
24.8

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 84 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2016 GA3 at 2037-11-30 21:26 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2037-11-30 21:26 UTC close approach of 2016 GA3. Catalogue miss distance 159.9 LD · 6.15 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2037-11-27 to 2037-12-03, 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 159.9 LD · 6.15 × 10⁷ km 2037-11-30 21:26 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2037-11-30 21:26 UTC close approach of 2016 GA3. Catalogue miss distance 159.9 LD · 6.15 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2037-11-27 to 2037-12-03, 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
2031-01-10 11:46:00 Venus 0.1053 AU 41.0 LD 5.8 km/s
2037-11-30 21:26:00 Earth 0.4108 AU 159.9 LD 17.8 km/s
2038-11-17 06:22:00 Earth 0.1974 AU 76.8 LD 11.3 km/s
2039-10-21 12:46:00 Earth 0.1069 AU 41.6 LD 7 km/s
2040-09-01 11:38:00 Earth 0.2108 AU 82.0 LD 7.3 km/s
2041-02-27 05:01:00 Earth 0.197 AU 76.7 LD 5.9 km/s
2041-07-04 22:03:00 Earth 0.245 AU 95.4 LD 5.4 km/s
2042-04-09 00:34:00 Earth 0.0382 AU 14.9 LD 6.9 km/s
2043-04-08 04:51:00 Earth 0.201 AU 78.2 LD 12.2 km/s
2044-03-31 03:22:00 Earth 0.4218 AU 164.1 LD 18.5 km/s

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

Sources