SpaceAtlas Space Object Data
NASA JPL SBDB · 2016 CO246

2016 CO246

2016 CO246 is an Aten-type near-Earth asteroid whose orbit lies mostly inside that of Earth, with a semi-major axis of 0.995 AU and a period of 0.99 yr.

Aten Observations: 46
Orbital Period · P
0.99 yr
v(q)
33.9 km/s
v(Q)
26.3 km/s
Diameter · ≈
0.02 km
TJ
6.09
Eccentricity · e
0.1262

Orbit and dynamics

The path is an ellipse reaching 0.869 AU from the Sun at perihelion and 1.12 AU at aphelion, a radial span of 0.251 AU.

Applying Kepler's third law to a = 0.995 AU gives an orbital period of 0.99 yr, or about 362 days.

An eccentricity of 0.126 makes the orbit moderately elongated.

The orbital plane is tilted 6.29° relative to the ecliptic.

By the vis-viva equation its orbital speed rises to 33.9 km/s at perihelion and falls to 26.3 km/s at aphelion.

Because q < 1 AU and Q > 1 AU, this orbit geometrically intersects the region of Earth's orbit.

Size and surface

No direct size measurement is available; from an absolute magnitude of H = 25.8 and an assumed geometric albedo of 0.14, the diameter works out to roughly 0.02 km.

Observation record and orbit quality

The current orbit solution is based on 46 observations and has a weighted RMS residual of 0.5592 arcseconds.

Condition code U = 0 means the orbit is very well determined, leaving only a small uncertainty in the future ephemeris.

About these computed values

Orbital periods, perihelion and aphelion speeds, and diameter estimates on this page are computed by SpaceAtlas from the JPL SBDB orbital elements. They are derived quantities, not values copied from the source catalogue.

Orbital Parameters

Semi-Major Axis
0.9946 AU
Eccentricity
0.1262
Perihelion
0.869 AU
Aphelion
1.120119 AU
Inclination
6.29°
Orbital Period
— yr
Epoch
2461200.5
Mean Anomaly
31.95°

Orbit diagram

The Sun sits at the focus (orange). Earth's orbit is the grey circle at 1 AU. The red dot marks the object's position at the catalog epoch.

3D orbit (interactive)

Drag to rotate; scroll or pinch to zoom. The Sun is at the focus (orange), Earth's orbit is the grey ring at 1 AU, and the red dot marks the object's current position.

Close approaches

Predicted close approaches to Earth, from NASA's Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS).

Date (UTC)Miss distanceVelocity
2027-Feb-16 23:51 0.318664 AU
47671401 km
14.09 km/s
2028-Feb-15 09:23 0.369262 AU
55240847 km
15.64 km/s
2029-Feb-12 19:00 0.420504 AU
62906569 km
17.19 km/s
2030-Feb-11 00:51 0.472123 AU
70628528 km
18.75 km/s

Distances in astronomical units (AU) and kilometres. Source: NASA/JPL CNEOS Close Approach Data API.

Physical Parameters

Diameter
— km
Albedo
—
Density
— g/cm³
Rotation Period
— h
Absolute Magnitude
25.8

Orbit Quality

RMS
0.55921
Condition
0
Orbit ID
—
Data source: NASA JPL Small-Body Database · NASA CNEOS. Orbital periods, perihelion and aphelion speeds, and diameter estimates on this page are computed by SpaceAtlas from the JPL SBDB orbital elements. They are derived quantities, not values copied from the source catalogue.

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