SpaceAtlas Space Object Data
NASA JPL SBDB · 2018 LG16

2018 LG16

2018 LG16 belongs to the Apollo group of near-Earth asteroids, whose orbits cross the path of Earth; with a semi-major axis of 1.551 AU it takes 1.93 yr to circle the Sun.

Apollo Observations: 38
Orbital Period · P
1.93 yr
v(q)
34.6 km/s
v(Q)
16.5 km/s
Diameter · ≈
0.35 km
TJ
4.3
Eccentricity · e
0.3539

Orbit and dynamics

The path is an ellipse reaching 1.002 AU from the Sun at perihelion and 2.1 AU at aphelion, a radial span of 1.098 AU.

Applying Kepler's third law to a = 1.551 AU gives an orbital period of 1.93 yr, or about 706 days.

An eccentricity of 0.354 makes the orbit moderately elongated.

A steep inclination of 22.94° carries it well above and below the ecliptic plane.

By the vis-viva equation its orbital speed rises to 34.6 km/s at perihelion and falls to 16.5 km/s at aphelion.

Size and surface

No direct size measurement is available; from an absolute magnitude of H = 20.04 and an assumed geometric albedo of 0.14, the diameter works out to roughly 0.35 km.

Observation record and orbit quality

The current orbit solution is based on 38 observations and has a weighted RMS residual of 0.6096 arcseconds.

Condition code U = 1 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
1.551 AU
Eccentricity
0.3539
Perihelion
1.002 AU
Aphelion
2.099899 AU
Inclination
22.94°
Orbital Period
— yr
Epoch
2461200.5
Mean Anomaly
262.21°

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
2026-Dec-18 14:40 0.133233 AU
19931356 km
14.26 km/s
2055-Dec-07 18:09 0.037969 AU
5680060 km
13.64 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
20.04

Orbit Quality

RMS
0.60958
Condition
1
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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