2016 CO246

Very small Aten-class Asteroid

Near-Earth
Space Reference » Aten-class Asteroids » 2016 CO246

Key Facts

  • Categorized as a Aten-class Asteroid
  • Comparable in size to a school bus or smaller
  • Will pass within 6,060,533 km of Earth in 2019
  • Classified as a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA)
  • Not a Potentially Hazardous Object
  • See orbit simulation

Overview

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.

Close Approaches

2016 CO246's orbit is 0.04 AU from Earth's orbit at its closest point. This means that there is an 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 28,836,529 9.972
Sept. 22, 2128 22,726,083 8.723
Sept. 19, 2129 17,406,363 7.610
Sept. 16, 2130 13,206,064 6.639
Sept. 13, 2131 10,535,612 5.868
Sept. 9, 2132 9,482,153 5.337
Sept. 5, 2133 9,556,261 4.977
Sept. 1, 2134 10,326,243 4.720
Aug. 27, 2135 11,614,748 4.561
Aug. 20, 2136 13,228,232 4.511
Aug. 13, 2137 15,036,044 4.559
Aug. 5, 2138 16,921,100 4.672
Oct. 20, 2138 23,241,669 2.738
July 28, 2139 18,776,345 4.814
Nov. 10, 2139 24,630,029 3.512
July 18, 2140 20,493,435 4.947
Nov. 20, 2140 25,363,832 3.887
July 10, 2141 22,005,653 5.050
Nov. 30, 2141 25,622,329 4.166
July 1, 2142 23,287,902 5.107
Dec. 9, 2142 25,481,138 4.337
June 23, 2143 24,308,477 5.106
Dec. 18, 2143 24,933,878 4.446
June 13, 2144 25,037,299 5.034
Dec. 25, 2144 24,021,662 4.524
June 4, 2145 25,427,793 4.882
Jan. 2, 2146 22,782,345 4.512
May 25, 2146 25,461,982 4.646
Jan. 10, 2147 21,231,328 4.476
May 15, 2147 25,096,974 4.315
Jan. 18, 2148 19,380,435 4.414
May 3, 2148 24,255,933 3.861
Jan. 25, 2149 17,366,783 4.309
April 17, 2149 22,838,047 3.190
Feb. 1, 2150 15,234,024 4.248
Feb. 7, 2151 13,114,134 4.209
Feb. 12, 2152 11,164,162 4.244
Feb. 14, 2153 9,591,442 4.341
Feb. 16, 2154 8,543,952 4.442
Feb. 17, 2155 7,980,594 4.507
Feb. 17, 2156 7,801,466 4.543
Feb. 16, 2157 8,049,886 4.488
Feb. 15, 2158 8,761,855 4.398
Feb. 13, 2159 9,983,832 4.288
Feb. 10, 2160 11,694,700 4.185
Feb. 4, 2161 13,788,904 4.144
Jan. 29, 2162 16,077,679 4.186
Jan. 22, 2163 18,354,160 4.281
April 20, 2163 22,913,929 3.469
Jan. 14, 2164 20,464,361 4.384
May 3, 2164 24,147,310 4.005
Jan. 5, 2165 22,377,974 4.472
May 15, 2165 24,841,611 4.372
Dec. 28, 2165 24,000,098 4.524
May 25, 2166 25,057,652 4.644
Dec. 20, 2166 25,275,815 4.528
June 4, 2167 24,833,979 4.839
Dec. 12, 2167 26,163,883 4.476
June 13, 2168 24,228,750 4.916
Dec. 3, 2168 26,694,065 4.369
June 22, 2169 23,261,985 4.917
Nov. 24, 2169 26,828,134 4.201
July 2, 2170 21,960,801 4.882
Nov. 15, 2170 26,537,250 3.966
July 11, 2171 20,381,497 4.772
Nov. 4, 2171 25,777,133 3.653
July 19, 2172 18,550,982 4.620
Oct. 20, 2172 24,437,712 3.207
July 28, 2173 16,494,022 4.487
Aug. 6, 2174 14,352,520 4.377
Aug. 13, 2175 12,330,877 4.347
Aug. 18, 2176 10,531,102 4.446
Aug. 22, 2177 9,136,901 4.601
Aug. 26, 2178 8,169,858 4.821
Aug. 28, 2179 7,628,280 5.052
Aug. 30, 2180 7,561,900 5.387
Sept. 1, 2181 8,469,329 5.840
Sept. 4, 2182 11,013,775 6.554
Sept. 7, 2183 15,213,450 7.459
Sept. 9, 2184 20,750,349 8.607
Sept. 12, 2185 27,099,326 9.856

Images and Observations

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.

Accessibility and Exploration

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.

Similar Objects

These objects have orbits that share similar characteristics to the orbit of 2016 CO246:

References

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Orbital Elements

  • Epoch: 2459396.5 JD
  • Semi-major axis: 0.9964 AU
  • Eccentricity: 0.126
  • Inclination: 6.3°
  • Longitude of Ascending Node: 136.43°
  • Argument of Periapsis: 120.36°
  • Mean Anomaly: 41.82°

Physical Characteristics

  • Diameter: ~0.033 km
  • Magnitude: 25.8

Derived Characteristics

  • Orbit Period: 363 days (0.99 years)
  • Avg. Orbit Speed: 29.86 km/s
  • Aphelion Distance: 1.12 AU
  • Perihelion Distance: 0.87 AU

Map Comparison

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Orbit Simulation

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Sky Map

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.

Size Rendering

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.