2016 RT is an asteroid in the Aten orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.88 AU to 1.07 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 352.8 days. Orbit from the JPL solution of 15 April 2021.
Where is it now
- Distance from Sun
- 0.892 AU
- True anomaly
- 25.56°
- Distance from Earth
- 1.754 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.
In the sky
- Right ascension
- 12h 38m 19s
- Declination
- -06° 39′ 55″
- Constellation
- Virgo
- Distance from Earth
- 1.75 AU
- Elongation from the Sun
- 20.41° — 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.
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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
- 0.977 AU
- Eccentricity
- 0.0946
- Inclination
- 37.94°
- Orbital period
- 352.8 days
- Perihelion
- 0.885 AU
- Aphelion
- 1.069 AU
- Longitude of ascending node
- 342.71°
- Argument of periapsis
- 161.47°
- Epoch · J2000
- 2457634.5
- Orbit class · ATE
- Aten
- Earth MOID · 21.6 LD
- 0.0554 AU
- Tisserand (Jupiter)
- 6.006
Orbit quality
Orbit very uncertain — the object may be effectively lost (uncertainty code 8).
- Observations used
- 39
- Data arc
- 3 days
- First observed
- 2 September 2016
- Last observed
- 5 September 2016
- Residual RMS
- 0.46 ″
- Solution · Otto Matic
- 15 April 2021
Visual & observation
- Absolute magnitude (H)
- 24.4
Discovery & classification
Close approaches 20 on record
Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2181-04-01 17:46 UTC close approach of 2016 RT. Catalogue miss distance 188.8 LD · 7.26 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2181-03-29 to 2181-04-04, 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.
| When (UTC) | Body | Distance | Lunar distances | Relative speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2181-04-01 17:46:00 | Earth | 0.485 AU | 188.8 LD | 25.4 km/s |
| 2181-09-12 03:30:00 | Earth | 0.4042 AU | 157.3 LD | 21.6 km/s |
| 2182-03-21 01:42:00 | Earth | 0.2913 AU | 113.4 LD | 22.4 km/s |
| 2182-09-10 01:24:00 | Earth | 0.2186 AU | 85.1 LD | 19.5 km/s |
| 2183-03-09 11:53:00 | Earth | 0.1231 AU | 47.9 LD | 20.8 km/s |
| 2183-09-07 20:20:00 | Earth | 0.0593 AU | 23.1 LD | 18.7 km/s |
| 2184-02-26 01:15:00 | Earth | 0.1712 AU | 66.6 LD | 21 km/s |
| 2184-09-04 07:07:00 | Earth | 0.178 AU | 69.3 LD | 19.4 km/s |
| 2185-02-13 16:39:00 | Earth | 0.3564 AU | 138.7 LD | 22.9 km/s |
| 2185-09-01 03:43:00 | Earth | 0.3643 AU | 141.8 LD | 21.7 km/s |
Next ten from today. 1 lunar distance = 384,400 km. Source: JPL close-approach data.
Sources
- visual properties: JPL SBDB (lookup)
- orbital elements: JPL SBDB