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Centaur

2016 AC282

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(2016 AC282)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
7.987 AU
True anomaly
208.69°
Distance from Earth
7.087 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 AC282 — 7.987 AU from the Sun 2016 AC282
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2016 AC282 is 7.087 AU from Earth today (58.9 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
01h 49m 01s
Declination
-18° 10′ 40″
Constellation
Cetus
Distance from Earth
7.09 AU
Elongation from the Sun
152.64° — 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
6.1 AU
Eccentricity
0.4312
Inclination
26.03°
Orbital period
15.07 years
Perihelion
3.47 AU
Aphelion
8.73 AU
Longitude of ascending node
132.14°
Argument of periapsis
39.51°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · CEN
Centaur
Earth MOID · 982.7 LD
2.525 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.609

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 4).

Observations used
42
Data arc
488 days
First observed
2 January 2016
Last observed
4 May 2017
Residual RMS
0.43 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
29 April 2023

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
16.02

Discovery & classification

Centaur

Close approaches 5 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2079-11-05 13:42:00 Juptr 1.9277 AU 750.2 LD 6.5 km/s
2082-01-16 11:51:00 Satrn 1.9344 AU 752.8 LD 4.3 km/s
2192-08-29 23:19:00 Juptr 1.6841 AU 655.4 LD 8.6 km/s

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

Sources