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Asteroid Near-Earth

2017 SN16

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(2017 SN16)

2017 SN16 is an asteroid in the Apollo orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 0.87 AU to 1.16 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 374.5 days. Orbit from the JPL solution of 15 April 2021.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
1.158 AU
True anomaly
195°
Distance from Earth
1.184 AU
As of
3 November 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 — 0.992 AU from the Sun Earth 2017 SN16 — 1.158 AU from the Sun 2017 SN16
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. 2017 SN16 is 1.184 AU from Earth today (9.8 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
19h 08m 29s
Declination
-28° 36′ 20″
Constellation
Sagittarius
Distance from Earth
1.19 AU
Elongation from the Sun
63.53° — 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
1.017 AU
Eccentricity
0.1457
Inclination
13.38°
Orbital period
374.5 days
Perihelion
0.869 AU
Aphelion
1.165 AU
Longitude of ascending node
2.62°
Argument of periapsis
136.89°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · APO
Apollo
Earth MOID · 35.9 LD
0.0922 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
5.968

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 1).

Observations used
103
Data arc
736 days
First observed
24 September 2017
Last observed
30 September 2019
Residual RMS
0.43 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
23.34

Discovery & classification

Apollo Near-Earth Object

Close approaches 87 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of 2017 SN16 at 2055-10-14 03:06 UTC Sun 184.4 LD · 7.09 × 10⁷ km 2055-10-14 03:06 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2055-10-14 03:06 UTC close approach of 2017 SN16. Catalogue miss distance 184.4 LD · 7.09 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2055-10-11 to 2055-10-17, 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
2055-10-14 03:06:00 Earth 0.4739 AU 184.4 LD 18.3 km/s
2056-10-17 00:40:00 Earth 0.3292 AU 128.1 LD 14 km/s
2057-10-17 07:15:00 Earth 0.1953 AU 76.0 LD 10.3 km/s
2058-10-10 13:49:00 Earth 0.1053 AU 41.0 LD 7.9 km/s
2059-09-26 01:43:00 Earth 0.1283 AU 49.9 LD 7.3 km/s
2060-02-18 08:20:00 Earth 0.1889 AU 73.5 LD 8 km/s
2060-09-04 20:43:00 Earth 0.2009 AU 78.2 LD 7.2 km/s
2061-03-19 20:52:00 Earth 0.1084 AU 42.2 LD 8.1 km/s
2061-08-05 05:36:00 Earth 0.2612 AU 101.7 LD 6.3 km/s
2062-04-12 13:11:00 Earth 0.1154 AU 44.9 LD 8.8 km/s

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

Sources