2016 CO246 is a very small asteroid whose orbit could bring it in close proximity to Earth. NASA JPL has classified 2016 CO246 as a "Near Earth Asteroid" due to its orbit's proximity to Earth, but it is not considered potentially hazardous because computer simulations have not indicated any imminent likelihood of future collision.
2016 CO246 orbits the sun every 363 days (0.99 years), coming as close as 0.87 AU and reaching as far as 1.12 AU from the sun. Based on its brightness and the way it reflects light, 2016 CO246 is probably between 0.012 to 0.054 kilometers in diameter, making it a small to average asteroid, very roughly comparable in size to a school bus or smaller.
2016 CO246's orbit is 0.04 AU from Earth's orbit at its closest point. This means that there is a wide berth between this asteroid and Earth at all times.
2016 CO246 has 87 close approaches predicted in the coming decades:
Date | Distance from Earth (km) | Velocity (km/s) |
---|---|---|
Feb. 22, 2019 | 6,060,533 | 5.525 |
Feb. 23, 2020 | 7,034,935 | 5.865 |
Feb. 22, 2021 | 9,709,427 | 6.489 |
Feb. 22, 2022 | 14,149,825 | 7.421 |
Feb. 22, 2023 | 19,758,564 | 8.523 |
Feb. 21, 2024 | 26,127,120 | 9.783 |
Sept. 25, 2127 | 28,836,534 | 9.972 |
Sept. 22, 2128 | 22,726,088 | 8.723 |
Sept. 19, 2129 | 17,406,367 | 7.610 |
Sept. 16, 2130 | 13,206,067 | 6.639 |
Sept. 13, 2131 | 10,535,613 | 5.868 |
Sept. 9, 2132 | 9,482,154 | 5.337 |
Sept. 5, 2133 | 9,556,261 | 4.977 |
Sept. 1, 2134 | 10,326,242 | 4.720 |
Aug. 27, 2135 | 11,614,746 | 4.561 |
Aug. 20, 2136 | 13,228,230 | 4.511 |
Aug. 13, 2137 | 15,036,041 | 4.559 |
Aug. 5, 2138 | 16,921,097 | 4.672 |
Oct. 20, 2138 | 23,241,666 | 2.738 |
July 28, 2139 | 18,776,342 | 4.814 |
Nov. 10, 2139 | 24,630,027 | 3.512 |
July 18, 2140 | 20,493,432 | 4.947 |
Nov. 20, 2140 | 25,363,831 | 3.887 |
July 10, 2141 | 22,005,651 | 5.050 |
Nov. 30, 2141 | 25,622,329 | 4.166 |
July 1, 2142 | 23,287,900 | 5.107 |
Dec. 9, 2142 | 25,481,139 | 4.337 |
June 23, 2143 | 24,308,476 | 5.106 |
Dec. 18, 2143 | 24,933,879 | 4.446 |
June 13, 2144 | 25,037,297 | 5.034 |
Dec. 25, 2144 | 24,021,664 | 4.524 |
June 4, 2145 | 25,427,793 | 4.882 |
Jan. 2, 2146 | 22,782,348 | 4.512 |
May 25, 2146 | 25,461,983 | 4.646 |
Jan. 10, 2147 | 21,231,332 | 4.476 |
May 15, 2147 | 25,096,975 | 4.315 |
Jan. 18, 2148 | 19,380,439 | 4.414 |
May 3, 2148 | 24,255,935 | 3.861 |
Jan. 25, 2149 | 17,366,788 | 4.309 |
April 17, 2149 | 22,838,051 | 3.190 |
Feb. 1, 2150 | 15,234,029 | 4.248 |
Feb. 7, 2151 | 13,114,139 | 4.209 |
Feb. 12, 2152 | 11,164,166 | 4.244 |
Feb. 14, 2153 | 9,591,446 | 4.341 |
Feb. 16, 2154 | 8,543,955 | 4.442 |
Feb. 17, 2155 | 7,980,596 | 4.507 |
Feb. 17, 2156 | 7,801,467 | 4.543 |
Feb. 16, 2157 | 8,049,887 | 4.488 |
Feb. 15, 2158 | 8,761,854 | 4.398 |
Feb. 13, 2159 | 9,983,831 | 4.288 |
Feb. 10, 2160 | 11,694,698 | 4.185 |
Feb. 4, 2161 | 13,788,902 | 4.144 |
Jan. 29, 2162 | 16,077,676 | 4.186 |
Jan. 22, 2163 | 18,354,157 | 4.281 |
April 20, 2163 | 22,913,927 | 3.469 |
Jan. 14, 2164 | 20,464,358 | 4.384 |
May 3, 2164 | 24,147,308 | 4.005 |
Jan. 5, 2165 | 22,377,971 | 4.472 |
May 15, 2165 | 24,841,610 | 4.372 |
Dec. 28, 2165 | 24,000,096 | 4.524 |
May 25, 2166 | 25,057,652 | 4.644 |
Dec. 20, 2166 | 25,275,813 | 4.528 |
June 4, 2167 | 24,833,980 | 4.839 |
Dec. 12, 2167 | 26,163,882 | 4.476 |
June 13, 2168 | 24,228,751 | 4.916 |
Dec. 3, 2168 | 26,694,064 | 4.369 |
June 22, 2169 | 23,261,987 | 4.917 |
Nov. 24, 2169 | 26,828,134 | 4.201 |
July 2, 2170 | 21,960,803 | 4.882 |
Nov. 15, 2170 | 26,537,251 | 3.966 |
July 11, 2171 | 20,381,500 | 4.772 |
Nov. 4, 2171 | 25,777,135 | 3.653 |
July 19, 2172 | 18,550,986 | 4.620 |
Oct. 20, 2172 | 24,437,715 | 3.207 |
July 28, 2173 | 16,494,025 | 4.487 |
Aug. 6, 2174 | 14,352,524 | 4.377 |
Aug. 13, 2175 | 12,330,881 | 4.347 |
Aug. 18, 2176 | 10,531,105 | 4.446 |
Aug. 22, 2177 | 9,136,904 | 4.601 |
Aug. 26, 2178 | 8,169,860 | 4.821 |
Aug. 28, 2179 | 7,628,281 | 5.052 |
Aug. 30, 2180 | 7,561,899 | 5.387 |
Sept. 1, 2181 | 8,469,324 | 5.840 |
Sept. 4, 2182 | 11,013,765 | 6.554 |
Sept. 7, 2183 | 15,213,435 | 7.459 |
Sept. 9, 2184 | 20,750,330 | 8.607 |
Sept. 12, 2185 | 27,099,305 | 9.856 |
2016 CO246's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Feb. 12, 2016. It was last officially observed on Feb. 15, 2020. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 46 observations used to determine its orbit.
2016 CO246 can be reached with a journey of 378 days. This trajectory would require a delta-v of 6.413 km/s. To put this into perspective, the delta-v to launch a rocket to Low-Earth Orbit is 9.7 km/s. There are 208,682 potential trajectories and launch windows to this asteroid.
See more at the NHATS Mission Trajectories table for 2016 CO246.
The position of 2016 CO246 is indicated by a ◯ pink circle. Note that the object may not be in your current field of view. Use the controls below to adjust position, location, and time.
The below comparison is an artistic rendering that uses available data on the diameter of 2016 CO246 to create an approximate landscape rendering with New York City in the background. This approximation is built for full-resolution desktop browsers. Shape, color, and texture of asteroid are imagined.