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Centaur

2016 PW84

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(2016 PW84)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
7.137 AU
True anomaly
207.56°
Distance from Earth
7.932 AU
As of
11 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.

Orbit of Mercury Orbit of Venus Orbit of Mars Sun Earth — 0.998 AU from the Sun Earth 2016 PW84 — 7.137 AU from the Sun 2016 PW84
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2016 PW84 is 7.932 AU from Earth today (1.1 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
15h 03m 11s
Declination
-29° 29′ 41″
Constellation
Libra
Distance from Earth
7.94 AU
Elongation from the Sun
34.4° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

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
5.824 AU
Eccentricity
0.2794
Inclination
14.52°
Orbital period
14.06 years
Perihelion
4.197 AU
Aphelion
7.451 AU
Longitude of ascending node
299.92°
Argument of periapsis
87.88°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · CEN
Centaur
Earth MOID · 1,261.5 LD
3.2416 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.86

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 3).

Observations used
49
Data arc
3.46 years
First observed
3 August 2016
Last observed
20 January 2020
Residual RMS
0.5 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
14.6

Discovery & classification

Centaur

Close approaches 5 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2044-04-10 21:36:00 Juptr 1.3707 AU 533.4 LD 7.5 km/s
2061-09-23 19:53:00 Juptr 0.1086 AU 42.3 LD 5.9 km/s
2061-09-23 19:53:00 Jupiter 0.1086 AU 42.3 LD 5.9 km/s

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

Sources