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Asteroid Near-Earth

2016 WR

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(2016 WR)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.934 AU
True anomaly
248.12°
Distance from Earth
1.813 AU
As of
21 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 WR — 0.934 AU from the Sun 2016 WR
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2016 WR is 1.813 AU from Earth today (15.1 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
12h 34m 53s
Declination
-02° 46′ 54″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
1.81 AU
Elongation from the Sun
19.26° — too close to the Sun to observe

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.

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
0.908 AU
Eccentricity
0.2821
Inclination
1.84°
Orbital period
315.8 days
Perihelion
0.652 AU
Aphelion
1.164 AU
Longitude of ascending node
60.25°
Argument of periapsis
220.16°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 3.4 LD
0.0086 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.534

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
27
Data arc
10 days
First observed
11 November 2016
Last observed
21 November 2016
Residual RMS
0.59 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
22 August 2022

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
26.59

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 71 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2016 WR at 2029-09-26 03:48 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2029-09-26 03:48 UTC close approach of 2016 WR. Catalogue miss distance 91.7 LD · 3.52 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2029-09-23 to 2029-09-29, 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 91.7 LD · 3.52 × 10⁷ km 2029-09-26 03:48 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2029-09-26 03:48 UTC close approach of 2016 WR. Catalogue miss distance 91.7 LD · 3.52 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2029-09-23 to 2029-09-29, 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
2027-11-22 12:00:00 Venus 0.0684 AU 26.6 LD 6.8 km/s
2029-09-26 03:48:00 Earth 0.2356 AU 91.7 LD 4.8 km/s
2029-12-10 10:38:00 Earth 0.1616 AU 62.9 LD 6.6 km/s
2030-05-24 12:37:00 Earth 0.3319 AU 129.2 LD 10.6 km/s
2031-02-14 20:05:00 Earth 0.3718 AU 144.7 LD 20.1 km/s
2032-04-06 20:53:00 Venus 0.0287 AU 11.2 LD 9.4 km/s
2035-11-09 06:09:00 Earth 0.1209 AU 47.0 LD 12.3 km/s
2036-07-09 08:01:00 Earth 0.3642 AU 141.7 LD 12.5 km/s
2037-02-26 00:47:00 Earth 0.0333 AU 13.0 LD 8.8 km/s
2041-11-22 10:09:00 Earth 0.4789 AU 186.4 LD 23.6 km/s

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

Sources