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Asteroid Near-Earth

2016 AE2

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(2016 AE2)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.038 AU
True anomaly
190.13°
Distance from Earth
1.071 AU
As of
16 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 — 0.997 AU from the Sun Earth 2016 AE2 — 1.038 AU from the Sun 2016 AE2
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2016 AE2 is 1.071 AU from Earth today (8.9 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
09h 45m 12s
Declination
+14° 10′ 53″
Constellation
Leo
Distance from Earth
1.07 AU
Elongation from the Sun
60.23° — well clear of the Sun

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
0.805 AU
Eccentricity
0.2988
Inclination
0.72°
Orbital period
263.8 days
Perihelion
0.564 AU
Aphelion
1.045 AU
Longitude of ascending node
330.19°
Argument of periapsis
286.5°
Epoch · J2000
2457389.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 3.2 LD
0.0082 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
7.215

Orbit quality

Orbit very uncertain — the object may be effectively lost (uncertainty code 8).

Observations used
20
Data arc
3 days
First observed
1 January 2016
Last observed
4 January 2016
Residual RMS
0.47 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
26.4

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 63 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2016 AE2 at 2031-12-31 02:41 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2031-12-31 02:41 UTC close approach of 2016 AE2. Catalogue miss distance 191.7 LD · 7.37 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2031-12-28 to 2032-01-03, 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. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. Sun 191.7 LD · 7.37 × 10⁷ km 2031-12-31 02:41 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2031-12-31 02:41 UTC close approach of 2016 AE2. Catalogue miss distance 191.7 LD · 7.37 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2031-12-28 to 2032-01-03, 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. 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
2027-12-17 23:09:00 Venus 0.0456 AU 17.7 LD 10.3 km/s
2031-12-31 02:41:00 Earth 0.4925 AU 191.7 LD 23.4 km/s
2033-11-08 15:17:00 Earth 0.2393 AU 93.1 LD 14.9 km/s
2037-01-12 00:22:00 Earth 0.114 AU 44.4 LD 10.8 km/s
2050-01-11 21:25:00 Earth 0.111 AU 43.2 LD 10.7 km/s
2057-07-01 06:31:00 Earth 0.4417 AU 171.9 LD 15 km/s
2057-12-30 04:12:00 Earth 0.4912 AU 191.2 LD 23.3 km/s
2059-11-08 01:55:00 Earth 0.2045 AU 79.6 LD 13.8 km/s
2060-04-14 08:24:00 Earth 0.386 AU 150.2 LD 11.6 km/s
2061-03-08 15:09:00 Venus 0.0473 AU 18.4 LD 11 km/s

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

Sources