2016 FR12 is an asteroid in the Aten orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.82 AU to 1.13 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 353.1 days. Orbit from the JPL solution of 15 April 2021.
Where is it now
- Distance from Sun
- 1.114 AU
- True anomaly
- 154.71°
- Distance from Earth
- 1.984 AU
- As of
- 24 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.
In the sky
- Right ascension
- 12h 43m 09s
- Declination
- -02° 05′ 06″
- Constellation
- Virgo
- Distance from Earth
- 1.98 AU
- Elongation from the Sun
- 21.1° — 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.
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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
- 0.978 AU
- Eccentricity
- 0.1606
- Inclination
- 12.46°
- Orbital period
- 353.1 days
- Perihelion
- 0.821 AU
- Aphelion
- 1.135 AU
- Longitude of ascending node
- 11.4°
- Argument of periapsis
- 5.23°
- Epoch · J2000
- 2461200.5
- Orbit class · ATE
- Aten
- Earth MOID · 52.4 LD
- 0.1347 AU
- Tisserand (Jupiter)
- 6.158
Orbit quality
Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 5).
- Observations used
- 31
- Data arc
- 18 days
- First observed
- 28 March 2016
- Last observed
- 15 April 2016
- Residual RMS
- 0.61 ″
- Solution · Otto Matic
- 15 April 2021
Visual & observation
- Absolute magnitude (H)
- 24.6
Discovery & classification
Close approaches 108 on record
Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2042-02-07 20:35 UTC close approach of 2016 FR12. Catalogue miss distance 158.2 LD · 6.08 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2042-02-04 to 2042-02-10, 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.
| When (UTC) | Body | Distance | Lunar distances | Relative speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2042-02-07 20:35:00 | Earth | 0.4065 AU | 158.2 LD | 15.6 km/s |
| 2043-02-07 12:57:00 | Earth | 0.2448 AU | 95.3 LD | 9.6 km/s |
| 2043-12-01 03:33:00 | Earth | 0.2085 AU | 81.2 LD | 7.3 km/s |
| 2044-03-05 10:16:00 | Earth | 0.1568 AU | 61.0 LD | 7.3 km/s |
| 2044-10-18 16:19:00 | Earth | 0.1805 AU | 70.2 LD | 8.9 km/s |
| 2045-04-03 03:15:00 | Earth | 0.1345 AU | 52.4 LD | 7.3 km/s |
| 2045-09-13 01:36:00 | Earth | 0.1884 AU | 73.3 LD | 8.8 km/s |
| 2046-05-02 03:09:00 | Earth | 0.1668 AU | 64.9 LD | 7.4 km/s |
| 2046-07-27 05:07:00 | Earth | 0.2212 AU | 86.1 LD | 6.5 km/s |
| 2047-05-27 06:37:00 | Earth | 0.2586 AU | 100.6 LD | 9.8 km/s |
Next ten from today. 1 lunar distance = 384,400 km. Source: JPL close-approach data.
Sources
- visual properties: JPL SBDB (lookup)
- orbital elements: JPL SBDB