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Asteroid Near-Earth Potentially hazardous

2016 RT1

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(2016 RT1)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.047 AU
True anomaly
147.46°
Distance from Earth
1.645 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 RT1 — 1.047 AU from the Sun 2016 RT1
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2016 RT1 is 1.645 AU from Earth today (13.7 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
15h 50m 45s
Declination
-37° 50′ 29″
Constellation
Lupus
Distance from Earth
1.65 AU
Elongation from the Sun
37.39° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

Favours the southern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far north.

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
0.96 AU
Eccentricity
0.1114
Inclination
30.58°
Orbital period
343.7 days
Perihelion
0.853 AU
Aphelion
1.067 AU
Longitude of ascending node
343.79°
Argument of periapsis
145.14°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 13.7 LD
0.0351 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.153

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 3).

Observations used
62
Data arc
143 days
First observed
4 September 2016
Last observed
25 January 2017
Residual RMS
0.5 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
21.9

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object Potentially Hazardous Asteroid

Close approaches 119 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2016 RT1 at 2031-03-25 22:06 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2031-03-25 22:06 UTC close approach of 2016 RT1. Catalogue miss distance 113.9 LD · 4.38 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2031-03-22 to 2031-03-28, 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 113.9 LD · 4.38 × 10⁷ km 2031-03-25 22:06 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2031-03-25 22:06 UTC close approach of 2016 RT1. Catalogue miss distance 113.9 LD · 4.38 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2031-03-22 to 2031-03-28, 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
2031-03-25 22:06:00 Earth 0.2927 AU 113.9 LD 19.3 km/s
2031-09-09 02:03:00 Earth 0.2607 AU 101.5 LD 16.3 km/s
2032-02-28 05:27:00 Earth 0.1451 AU 56.5 LD 17 km/s
2032-09-05 17:08:00 Earth 0.0848 AU 33.0 LD 15.7 km/s
2033-01-30 02:56:00 Earth 0.4385 AU 170.7 LD 20 km/s
2033-08-30 08:50:00 Earth 0.4184 AU 162.8 LD 20.7 km/s
2047-03-22 23:19:00 Earth 0.2568 AU 99.9 LD 18.7 km/s
2047-09-09 00:21:00 Earth 0.2212 AU 86.1 LD 15.9 km/s
2048-02-25 00:41:00 Earth 0.1718 AU 66.9 LD 17.2 km/s
2048-09-05 03:55:00 Earth 0.1245 AU 48.5 LD 16.1 km/s

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

Sources