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Asteroid Near-Earth

618348

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618348 (2016 PN)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.874 AU
True anomaly
112.23°
Distance from Earth
1.629 AU
As of
19 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 — 0.996 AU from the Sun Earth 618348 — 0.874 AU from the Sun 618348
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 618348 is 1.629 AU from Earth today (13.5 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
15h 32m 21s
Declination
-11° 05′ 13″
Constellation
Libra
Distance from Earth
1.63 AU
Elongation from the Sun
27.44° — 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
0.859 AU
Eccentricity
0.3323
Inclination
21.6°
Orbital period
290.6 days
Perihelion
0.573 AU
Aphelion
1.144 AU
Longitude of ascending node
126.04°
Argument of periapsis
23.69°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 27.4 LD
0.0703 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.772

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 0).

Observations used
315
Data arc
12.06 years
First observed
5 August 2012
Last observed
26 August 2024
Residual RMS
0.32 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
28 August 2024

Physical properties

Mean radius
0.08 km
Rotation period
5.46 hours

Visual & observation

Geometric albedo
0.495
Absolute magnitude (H)
20.22

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
ATLAS
Discovery date
2 August 2016
Discovery site
Haleakala

Also known as 2016 PN

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 193 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 618348 at 2028-04-25 21:43 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-04-25 21:43 UTC close approach of 618348. Catalogue miss distance 177.5 LD · 6.82 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-04-22 to 2028-04-28, 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 177.5 LD · 6.82 × 10⁷ km 2028-04-25 21:43 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-04-25 21:43 UTC close approach of 618348. Catalogue miss distance 177.5 LD · 6.82 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-04-22 to 2028-04-28, 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
2028-03-12 02:23:00 Venus 0.1362 AU 53.0 LD 16.7 km/s
2028-04-25 21:43:00 Earth 0.456 AU 177.5 LD 9.7 km/s
2028-08-13 18:50:00 Earth 0.2272 AU 88.4 LD 11.6 km/s
2028-12-02 02:54:00 Earth 0.3713 AU 144.5 LD 14.1 km/s
2032-04-03 05:32:00 Earth 0.4694 AU 182.7 LD 15 km/s
2032-08-26 22:07:00 Earth 0.2901 AU 112.9 LD 11.9 km/s
2036-03-17 22:01:00 Earth 0.4635 AU 180.4 LD 17.8 km/s
2036-09-10 23:34:00 Earth 0.3477 AU 135.3 LD 12.7 km/s
2039-07-29 03:46:00 Earth 0.4589 AU 178.6 LD 23.9 km/s
2040-03-03 04:09:00 Earth 0.4486 AU 174.6 LD 19.4 km/s

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

Sources