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Asteroid Near-Earth Potentially hazardous

2016 TA57

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(2016 TA57)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.387 AU
True anomaly
179.4°
Distance from Earth
1 AU
As of
20 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 — 0.996 AU from the Sun Earth 2016 TA57 — 1.387 AU from the Sun 2016 TA57
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2016 TA57 is 1 AU from Earth today (8.3 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
20h 27m 18s
Declination
-52° 44′ 32″
Constellation
Telescopium
Distance from Earth
1.01 AU
Elongation from the Sun
87.76° — 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
0.9 AU
Eccentricity
0.5419
Inclination
30.07°
Orbital period
311.7 days
Perihelion
0.412 AU
Aphelion
1.387 AU
Longitude of ascending node
33.55°
Argument of periapsis
129.22°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 6.8 LD
0.0175 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.389

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 1).

Observations used
55
Data arc
5.95 years
First observed
12 October 2016
Last observed
25 September 2022
Residual RMS
0.45 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
26 September 2022

Physical properties

Mean radius
0.14 km

Visual & observation

Geometric albedo
0.088
Absolute magnitude (H)
20.79

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object Potentially Hazardous Asteroid

Close approaches 168 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2016 TA57 at 2028-10-16 15:23 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-10-16 15:23 UTC close approach of 2016 TA57. Catalogue miss distance 97.8 LD · 3.76 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-10-13 to 2028-10-19, 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 97.8 LD · 3.76 × 10⁷ km 2028-10-16 15:23 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-10-16 15:23 UTC close approach of 2016 TA57. Catalogue miss distance 97.8 LD · 3.76 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-10-13 to 2028-10-19, 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
2028-10-16 15:23:00 Earth 0.2513 AU 97.8 LD 27.8 km/s
2029-10-25 21:30:00 Merc 0.052 AU 20.2 LD 21.2 km/s
2029-10-25 21:30:00 Mercury 0.052 AU 20.2 LD 21.2 km/s
2032-06-09 22:42:00 Earth 0.4528 AU 176.2 LD 23.2 km/s
2033-10-19 19:39:00 Earth 0.3981 AU 154.9 LD 16.1 km/s
2034-10-10 09:28:00 Earth 0.408 AU 158.8 LD 32.4 km/s
2038-05-25 05:40:00 Earth 0.4623 AU 179.9 LD 24.3 km/s
2039-10-27 20:11:00 Earth 0.2638 AU 102.7 LD 16.6 km/s
2040-11-29 01:00:00 Mercury 0.0767 AU 29.8 LD 26 km/s
2040-11-29 01:00:00 Merc 0.0767 AU 29.8 LD 26 km/s

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

Sources