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Asteroid Near-Earth Potentially hazardous

2016 BC14

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(2016 BC14)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.996 AU
True anomaly
211.5°
Distance from Earth
1.975 AU
As of
20 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 2016 BC14 — 0.996 AU from the Sun 2016 BC14
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2016 BC14 is 1.975 AU from Earth today (16.4 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
13h 12m 41s
Declination
-08° 23′ 01″
Constellation
Virgo
Distance from Earth
1.97 AU
Elongation from the Sun
7.43° — too close to the Sun to observe

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
0.87 AU
Eccentricity
0.1823
Inclination
8.37°
Orbital period
296.5 days
Perihelion
0.712 AU
Aphelion
1.029 AU
Longitude of ascending node
3.97°
Argument of periapsis
337.17°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 4.5 LD
0.0115 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.775

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 1).

Observations used
266
Data arc
7.98 years
First observed
23 January 2016
Last observed
14 January 2024
Residual RMS
0.34 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
14 January 2024

Physical properties

Mean radius
0.10 km
Rotation period
28.5 hours

Visual & observation

Geometric albedo
0.201
Absolute magnitude (H)
20.98

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object Potentially Hazardous Asteroid

Close approaches 153 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2016 BC14 at 2028-10-28 16:32 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-10-28 16:32 UTC close approach of 2016 BC14. Catalogue miss distance 95.4 LD · 3.67 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-10-25 to 2028-10-31, 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 95.4 LD · 3.67 × 10⁷ km 2028-10-28 16:32 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2028-10-28 16:32 UTC close approach of 2016 BC14. Catalogue miss distance 95.4 LD · 3.67 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2028-10-25 to 2028-10-31, 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
2028-10-28 16:32:00 Earth 0.2451 AU 95.4 LD 7.7 km/s
2029-04-02 02:41:00 Earth 0.1032 AU 40.2 LD 8.3 km/s
2033-02-02 12:17:00 Earth 0.1394 AU 54.2 LD 6.4 km/s
2033-06-12 21:05:00 Earth 0.2543 AU 99.0 LD 4.4 km/s
2037-01-31 14:43:00 Earth 0.4275 AU 166.4 LD 17.1 km/s
2037-08-18 01:38:00 Earth 0.3065 AU 119.3 LD 9.6 km/s
2040-12-13 03:35:00 Venus 0.1449 AU 56.4 LD 10.9 km/s
2041-10-09 10:01:00 Earth 0.27 AU 105.1 LD 9.1 km/s
2042-04-01 16:44:00 Earth 0.2142 AU 83.4 LD 11.6 km/s
2043-04-29 22:03:00 Venus 0.0205 AU 8.0 LD 6.3 km/s

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

Sources