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Asteroid Near-Earth

2016 HE3

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(2016 HE3)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.661 AU
True anomaly
267.93°
Distance from Earth
1.157 AU
As of
16 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 HE3 — 0.661 AU from the Sun 2016 HE3
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2016 HE3 is 1.157 AU from Earth today (9.6 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
15h 48m 22s
Declination
-13° 51′ 37″
Constellation
Libra
Distance from Earth
1.15 AU
Elongation from the Sun
34.68° — 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
0.776 AU
Eccentricity
0.401
Inclination
10.66°
Orbital period
249.6 days
Perihelion
0.465 AU
Aphelion
1.087 AU
Longitude of ascending node
216.39°
Argument of periapsis
173.24°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 21.7 LD
0.0558 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
7.403

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 7).

Observations used
87
Data arc
13 days
First observed
27 April 2016
Last observed
10 May 2016
Residual RMS
0.4 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
24.3

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 31 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2016 HE3 at 2027-05-14 00:56 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-05-14 00:56 UTC close approach of 2016 HE3. Catalogue miss distance 111.9 LD · 4.3 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-05-11 to 2027-05-17, 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 111.9 LD · 4.3 × 10⁷ km 2027-05-14 00:56 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-05-14 00:56 UTC close approach of 2016 HE3. Catalogue miss distance 111.9 LD · 4.3 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-05-11 to 2027-05-17, 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
2027-05-14 00:56:00 Earth 0.2874 AU 111.9 LD 18.4 km/s
2029-05-13 09:45:00 Earth 0.061 AU 23.7 LD 10.3 km/s
2031-07-16 20:11:00 Venus 0.1419 AU 55.2 LD 15.2 km/s
2033-03-23 10:18:00 Earth 0.2311 AU 89.9 LD 15.6 km/s
2035-04-02 07:08:00 Earth 0.4932 AU 191.9 LD 24.8 km/s
2040-05-09 06:05:00 Earth 0.4054 AU 157.8 LD 22.4 km/s
2042-05-16 20:04:00 Earth 0.1445 AU 56.2 LD 13.6 km/s

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

Sources