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Asteroid Near-Earth

2020 DP16

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(2020 DP16)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.849 AU
True anomaly
42.79°
Distance from Earth
0.526 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 2020 DP16 — 0.849 AU from the Sun 2020 DP16
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2020 DP16 is 0.526 AU from Earth today (4.4 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
17h 21m 36s
Declination
-50° 06′ 09″
Constellation
Ara
Distance from Earth
0.53 AU
Elongation from the Sun
58.65° — 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
0.919 AU
Eccentricity
0.0976
Inclination
27.01°
Orbital period
321.8 days
Perihelion
0.829 AU
Aphelion
1.009 AU
Longitude of ascending node
146.05°
Argument of periapsis
174.68°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 8.0 LD
0.0205 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.408

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 7).

Observations used
29
Data arc
6 days
First observed
15 February 2020
Last observed
21 February 2020
Residual RMS
0.42 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
4 August 2022

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
25.58

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 40 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2020 DP16 at 2027-02-17 04:08 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-02-17 04:08 UTC close approach of 2020 DP16. Catalogue miss distance 109.2 LD · 4.2 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-02-14 to 2027-02-20, 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 south of the ecliptic. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. Sun 109.2 LD · 4.2 × 10⁷ km 2027-02-17 04:08 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-02-17 04:08 UTC close approach of 2020 DP16. Catalogue miss distance 109.2 LD · 4.2 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-02-14 to 2027-02-20, 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 south 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
2027-02-17 04:08:00 Earth 0.2807 AU 109.2 LD 15.9 km/s
2027-08-06 04:17:00 Earth 0.2226 AU 86.6 LD 15.8 km/s
2028-02-11 12:59:00 Earth 0.4153 AU 161.6 LD 19.3 km/s
2035-02-14 12:34:00 Earth 0.1367 AU 53.2 LD 14.6 km/s
2047-01-05 21:46:00 Venus 0.1282 AU 49.9 LD 15.7 km/s
2049-02-17 20:10:00 Earth 0.4123 AU 160.5 LD 18.3 km/s
2050-02-12 19:37:00 Earth 0.2843 AU 110.7 LD 16.7 km/s
2053-03-01 06:32:00 Venus 0.1046 AU 40.7 LD 15.6 km/s
2098-01-27 06:37:00 Venus 0.106 AU 41.2 LD 15.6 km/s
2108-02-19 17:40:00 Earth 0.4232 AU 164.7 LD 18.6 km/s

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

Sources