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Asteroid Near-Earth

2016 XE18

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(2016 XE18)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.828 AU
True anomaly
299.15°
Distance from Earth
1.742 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 XE18 — 0.828 AU from the Sun 2016 XE18
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2016 XE18 is 1.742 AU from Earth today (14.5 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
12h 43m 20s
Declination
-11° 10′ 25″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
1.74 AU
Elongation from the Sun
15.52° — 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
0.913 AU
Eccentricity
0.1558
Inclination
13.09°
Orbital period
318.6 days
Perihelion
0.771 AU
Aphelion
1.055 AU
Longitude of ascending node
252.46°
Argument of periapsis
344.12°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 23.5 LD
0.0604 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.506

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
46
Data arc
14 days
First observed
6 December 2016
Last observed
20 December 2016
Residual RMS
0.58 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
25.29

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 130 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2016 XE18 at 2029-10-21 05:28 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2029-10-21 05:28 UTC close approach of 2016 XE18. Catalogue miss distance 173.1 LD · 6.65 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2029-10-18 to 2029-10-24, 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. Sun 173.1 LD · 6.65 × 10⁷ km 2029-10-21 05:28 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2029-10-21 05:28 UTC close approach of 2016 XE18. Catalogue miss distance 173.1 LD · 6.65 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2029-10-18 to 2029-10-24, 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.

JPL Horizons

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2027-10-22 11:54:00 Venus 0.0942 AU 36.6 LD 11.3 km/s
2029-10-21 05:28:00 Earth 0.4448 AU 173.1 LD 16.6 km/s
2030-06-16 08:35:00 Earth 0.2365 AU 92.0 LD 10 km/s
2030-12-23 09:24:00 Earth 0.1658 AU 64.5 LD 9.8 km/s
2036-10-20 15:41:00 Earth 0.3348 AU 130.3 LD 12.8 km/s
2037-05-27 06:34:00 Earth 0.2426 AU 94.4 LD 10.2 km/s
2037-12-25 06:07:00 Earth 0.2813 AU 109.5 LD 13 km/s
2043-10-27 23:47:00 Earth 0.2369 AU 92.2 LD 9.6 km/s
2044-05-07 10:59:00 Earth 0.2528 AU 98.4 LD 9.9 km/s
2044-12-23 15:25:00 Earth 0.3995 AU 155.5 LD 16.7 km/s

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

Sources