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Asteroid Near-Earth

2016 QA2

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(2016 QA2)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
0.962 AU
True anomaly
252.01°
Distance from Earth
0.724 AU
As of
22 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 2016 QA2 — 0.962 AU from the Sun 2016 QA2
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2016 QA2 is 0.724 AU from Earth today (6.0 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
18h 22m 54s
Declination
-19° 19′ 05″
Constellation
Sagittarius
Distance from Earth
0.72 AU
Elongation from the Sun
65.81° — well clear of the Sun

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
0.946 AU
Eccentricity
0.2419
Inclination
14.75°
Orbital period
336 days
Perihelion
0.717 AU
Aphelion
1.175 AU
Longitude of ascending node
334.81°
Argument of periapsis
119.6°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 0.2 LD
0.0005 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
6.302

Orbit quality

Orbit reasonably well determined (uncertainty code 4).

Observations used
107
Data arc
2 days
First observed
27 August 2016
Last observed
29 August 2016
Residual RMS
0.34 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
25.1

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 119 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2016 QA2 at 2027-01-27 23:29 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-01-27 23:29 UTC close approach of 2016 QA2. Catalogue miss distance 105.8 LD · 4.07 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-01-24 to 2027-01-30, 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 105.8 LD · 4.07 × 10⁷ km 2027-01-27 23:29 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-01-27 23:29 UTC close approach of 2016 QA2. Catalogue miss distance 105.8 LD · 4.07 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-01-24 to 2027-01-30, 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
2027-01-27 23:29:00 Earth 0.2719 AU 105.8 LD 10.7 km/s
2027-08-15 16:27:00 Earth 0.205 AU 79.8 LD 7.7 km/s
2028-08-19 19:31:00 Earth 0.2658 AU 103.5 LD 16.3 km/s
2037-04-25 03:03:00 Earth 0.403 AU 156.8 LD 18.6 km/s
2038-03-08 04:34:00 Earth 0.1719 AU 66.9 LD 10.1 km/s
2038-12-16 20:39:00 Earth 0.3346 AU 130.2 LD 9.6 km/s
2039-08-28 13:08:00 Earth 0.0199 AU 7.7 LD 10.2 km/s
2045-06-18 04:53:00 Venus 0.136 AU 52.9 LD 15.2 km/s
2047-04-21 01:12:00 Venus 0.0772 AU 30.0 LD 13.1 km/s
2049-02-21 04:12:00 Venus 0.0409 AU 15.9 LD 11.6 km/s

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

Sources