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Asteroid Near-Earth

2016 TQ54

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(2016 TQ54)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.969 AU
True anomaly
112.05°
Distance from Earth
0.442 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 TQ54 — 0.969 AU from the Sun 2016 TQ54
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2016 TQ54 is 0.442 AU from Earth today (3.7 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
18h 58m 52s
Declination
-22° 57′ 53″
Constellation
Sagittarius
Distance from Earth
0.44 AU
Elongation from the Sun
73.94° — well clear of the Sun

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
0.943 AU
Eccentricity
0.2894
Inclination
1.37°
Orbital period
334.5 days
Perihelion
0.67 AU
Aphelion
1.216 AU
Longitude of ascending node
7.71°
Argument of periapsis
243.61°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 0.3 LD
0.0008 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.333

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
11
Data arc
4 days
First observed
6 October 2016
Last observed
10 October 2016
Residual RMS
0.37 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
27.2

Discovery & classification

Listed by JPL impact monitoring; see the Sentry table for current probabilities.

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 44 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2016 TQ54 at 2027-10-05 19:31 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-10-05 19:31 UTC close approach of 2016 TQ54. Catalogue miss distance 33.3 LD · 1.28 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-10-02 to 2027-10-08, 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 33.3 LD · 1.28 × 10⁷ km 2027-10-05 19:31 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-10-05 19:31 UTC close approach of 2016 TQ54. Catalogue miss distance 33.3 LD · 1.28 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-10-02 to 2027-10-08, 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
2026-10-17 18:36:00 Earth 0.4214 AU 164.0 LD 22 km/s
2027-10-05 19:31:00 Earth 0.0856 AU 33.3 LD 6.6 km/s
2028-06-16 19:37:00 Earth 0.3417 AU 133.0 LD 11.7 km/s
2028-07-05 15:20:00 Venus 0.031 AU 12.1 LD 9.2 km/s
2028-12-28 01:14:00 Earth 0.2093 AU 81.5 LD 7 km/s
2029-04-03 14:05:00 Earth 0.2626 AU 102.2 LD 7.7 km/s
2030-01-29 15:06:00 Earth 0.2269 AU 88.3 LD 16 km/s
2030-04-26 01:03:00 Venus 0.0402 AU 15.7 LD 6.7 km/s
2032-02-01 14:31:00 Venus 0.0574 AU 22.3 LD 6.6 km/s
2033-11-14 12:44:00 Venus 0.0403 AU 15.7 LD 8.3 km/s

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

Sources