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Asteroid Near-Earth

2016 FL60

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(2016 FL60)

2016 FL60 is an asteroid in the Aten orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.61 AU to 1.37 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 361.5 days. Orbit from the JPL solution of 20 February 2022.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.027 AU
True anomaly
117.15°
Distance from Earth
1.391 AU
As of
2 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.

Sun Earth — 0.992 AU from the Sun Earth 2016 FL60 — 1.027 AU from the Sun 2016 FL60
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2016 FL60 is 1.391 AU from Earth today (11.6 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
11h 17m 55s
Declination
-13° 26′ 35″
Constellation
Crater
Distance from Earth
1.39 AU
Elongation from the Sun
47.73° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

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
0.993 AU
Eccentricity
0.3831
Inclination
24.87°
Orbital period
361.5 days
Perihelion
0.613 AU
Aphelion
1.374 AU
Longitude of ascending node
191.48°
Argument of periapsis
176.39°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 130.3 LD
0.3348 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
5.972

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 7).

Observations used
14
Data arc
11 days
First observed
28 March 2016
Last observed
8 April 2016
Residual RMS
0.31 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
20 February 2022

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
23.92

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 53 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2016 FL60 at 2027-05-06 18:30 UTC Sun 131.5 LD · 5.05 × 10⁷ km 2027-05-06 18:30 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-05-06 18:30 UTC close approach of 2016 FL60. Catalogue miss distance 131.5 LD · 5.05 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-05-03 to 2027-05-09, 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
2027-05-06 18:30:00 Earth 0.3378 AU 131.5 LD 14.6 km/s
2028-05-08 19:54:00 Earth 0.3455 AU 134.5 LD 15.2 km/s
2029-05-11 03:34:00 Earth 0.359 AU 139.7 LD 16 km/s
2030-05-12 12:12:00 Earth 0.379 AU 147.5 LD 17.2 km/s
2031-05-12 22:39:00 Earth 0.4056 AU 157.8 LD 18.6 km/s
2032-05-11 15:07:00 Earth 0.4379 AU 170.4 LD 20.1 km/s
2033-05-10 17:14:00 Earth 0.4752 AU 184.9 LD 21.8 km/s

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

Sources