2016 UA42 is an asteroid in the Apollo orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.58 AU to 1.49 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 385.1 days. Orbit from the JPL solution of 15 April 2021.
Where is it now
- Distance from Sun
- 1.13 AU
- True anomaly
- 233.51°
- Distance from Earth
- 1.531 AU
- As of
- 4 November 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 20m 20s
- Declination
- +17° 20′ 34″
- Constellation
- Coma Berenices
- Distance from Earth
- 1.53 AU
- Elongation from the Sun
- 47.56° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn
Favours the northern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far south.
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
- 1.036 AU
- Eccentricity
- 0.443
- Inclination
- 25.05°
- Orbital period
- 385.1 days
- Perihelion
- 0.577 AU
- Aphelion
- 1.495 AU
- Longitude of ascending node
- 56.56°
- Argument of periapsis
- 205.66°
- Epoch · J2000
- 2461200.5
- Orbit class · APO
- Apollo
- Earth MOID · 97.4 LD
- 0.2504 AU
- Tisserand (Jupiter)
- 5.748
Orbit quality
Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 2).
- Observations used
- 63
- Data arc
- 394 days
- First observed
- 27 October 2016
- Last observed
- 25 November 2017
- Residual RMS
- 0.62 ″
- Solution · Otto Matic
- 15 April 2021
Visual & observation
- Absolute magnitude (H)
- 21.2
Discovery & classification
Close approaches 134 on record
Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2031-02-26 23:49 UTC close approach of 2016 UA42. Catalogue miss distance 170.2 LD · 6.54 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2031-02-23 to 2031-03-01, 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.
| When (UTC) | Body | Distance | Lunar distances | Relative speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2031-02-26 23:49:00 | Earth | 0.4374 AU | 170.2 LD | 21 km/s |
| 2032-04-03 11:59:00 | Earth | 0.3763 AU | 146.4 LD | 19.5 km/s |
| 2033-05-08 11:58:00 | Earth | 0.401 AU | 156.1 LD | 22.2 km/s |
| 2034-06-09 21:02:00 | Earth | 0.4556 AU | 177.3 LD | 23.3 km/s |
| 2035-11-13 19:51:00 | Earth | 0.422 AU | 164.2 LD | 15.1 km/s |
| 2036-10-28 21:27:00 | Earth | 0.2907 AU | 113.1 LD | 15.2 km/s |
| 2037-10-24 09:33:00 | Earth | 0.2805 AU | 109.2 LD | 19.9 km/s |
| 2038-11-01 23:14:00 | Earth | 0.4983 AU | 193.9 LD | 28.6 km/s |
| 2051-03-19 22:46:00 | Earth | 0.3854 AU | 150.0 LD | 18.9 km/s |
| 2052-04-24 20:38:00 | Earth | 0.3849 AU | 149.8 LD | 21.1 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