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Asteroid Near-Earth

2016 US4

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(2016 US4)

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.096 AU
True anomaly
181.32°
Distance from Earth
0.517 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 US4 — 1.096 AU from the Sun 2016 US4
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2016 US4 is 0.517 AU from Earth today (4.3 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
19h 18m 48s
Declination
-06° 08′ 38″
Constellation
Aquila
Distance from Earth
0.52 AU
Elongation from the Sun
86.54° — 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
0.3624
Inclination
14.96°
Orbital period
263.6 days
Perihelion
0.513 AU
Aphelion
1.096 AU
Longitude of ascending node
206.06°
Argument of periapsis
327.99°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · ATE
Aten
Earth MOID · 3.3 LD
0.0086 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
7.175

Orbit quality

Orbit poorly determined (uncertainty code 6).

Observations used
62
Data arc
15 days
First observed
7 October 2016
Last observed
22 October 2016
Residual RMS
0.41 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
23 August 2022

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
24.41

Discovery & classification

Aten Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 98 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2016 US4 at 2027-02-09 19:50 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-02-09 19:50 UTC close approach of 2016 US4. Catalogue miss distance 187.0 LD · 7.19 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-02-06 to 2027-02-12, 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 south of the ecliptic. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. Sun 187.0 LD · 7.19 × 10⁷ km 2027-02-09 19:50 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2027-02-09 19:50 UTC close approach of 2016 US4. Catalogue miss distance 187.0 LD · 7.19 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2027-02-06 to 2027-02-12, 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 south 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
2027-02-09 19:50:00 Earth 0.4806 AU 187.0 LD 17 km/s
2029-05-22 17:12:00 Earth 0.4122 AU 160.4 LD 14.4 km/s
2029-10-21 19:25:00 Earth 0.037 AU 14.4 LD 11.8 km/s
2032-03-12 02:01:00 Earth 0.4924 AU 191.6 LD 20.4 km/s
2034-09-26 19:30:00 Earth 0.1701 AU 66.2 LD 9.4 km/s
2037-04-09 01:06:00 Earth 0.4749 AU 184.8 LD 20 km/s
2037-10-11 21:06:00 Earth 0.4276 AU 166.4 LD 23.3 km/s
2038-07-23 17:30:00 Venus 0.1397 AU 54.4 LD 16.7 km/s
2039-06-23 20:40:00 Venus 0.1428 AU 55.6 LD 16.3 km/s
2039-08-22 12:41:00 Earth 0.2726 AU 106.1 LD 12.7 km/s

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

Sources