2016 UY56

Very small Apollo-class Asteroid

Near-Earth
Space Reference » Apollo-class Asteroids » 2016 UY56

Key Facts

  • Categorized as a Apollo-class Asteroid
  • Comparable in size to a school bus or smaller
  • Will pass within 10,912,450 km of Earth in 2026
  • Classified as a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA)
  • Not a Potentially Hazardous Object
  • See orbit simulation

Overview

2016 UY56 is a very small asteroid whose orbit crosses the orbit of Earth. NASA JPL has classified 2016 UY56 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 UY56 orbits the sun every 557 days (1.52 years), coming as close as 0.73 AU and reaching as far as 1.92 AU from the sun. Based on its brightness and the way it reflects light, 2016 UY56 is probably between 0.043 to 0.097 kilometers in diameter, making it a small to average asteroid, very roughly comparable in size to a school bus or smaller.

Close Approaches

2016 UY56's orbit is 0.00 AU from Earth's orbit at its closest point. This means that its orbit is relatively close to Earth's orbit.

2016 UY56 has 14 close approaches predicted in the coming decades:

Date Distance from Earth (km) Velocity (km/s)
May 3, 2026 10,912,450 14.535
Dec. 7, 2045 22,251,560 8.558
April 22, 2052 10,038,440 10.412
Nov. 12, 2071 13,871,025 15.183
April 26, 2081 6,068,723 11.212
Nov. 23, 2103 8,453,618 10.709
May 4, 2113 10,057,199 14.356
Nov. 24, 2132 10,026,713 10.391
April 6, 2139 24,325,017 8.548
May 10, 2142 24,860,271 17.284
Nov. 11, 2158 19,700,697 16.358
Dec. 24, 2161 28,354,158 9.138
April 30, 2168 907,693 12.364
Nov. 28, 2190 14,683,388 9.483

Images and Observations

2016 UY56's orbit is determined by observations dating back to Oct. 25, 2016. It was last officially observed on Nov. 19, 2016. The IAU Minor Planet Center records 127 observations used to determine its orbit.

Accessibility and Exploration

This asteroid is not considered a viable target for human exploration by the NHATS study.

Similar Objects

These objects have orbits that share similar characteristics to the orbit of 2016 UY56:

References

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Orbital Elements

  • Epoch: 2460200.5 JD
  • Semi-major axis: 1.325 AU
  • Eccentricity: 0.4459
  • Inclination: 0.9°
  • Longitude of Ascending Node: 244.63°
  • Argument of Periapsis: 250.54°
  • Mean Anomaly: 133.83°

Physical Characteristics

  • Diameter: ~0.056 km
  • Magnitude: 23.94

Derived Characteristics

  • Orbit Period: 557 days (1.52 years)
  • Avg. Orbit Speed: 25.88 km/s
  • Aphelion Distance: 1.92 AU
  • Perihelion Distance: 0.73 AU

Map Comparison

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Orbit Simulation

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Sky Map

The position of 2016 UY56 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 UY56 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.