Your guide to the Solar System and the night sky
By donating now you help keep this site alive and free from ads. Please consider supporting this project.
🌎  Observing from: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]
🌅 Sunrise: 6:43  ☀️ Transit: 13:03  🌅 Sunset: 19:24

Asteroid 2016 WF9

Asteroid 2016 WF9 is currently in the constellation of Scutum. The current Right Ascension of Asteroid 2016 WF9 is 18h 35m 14s and the Declination is -12° 46’ 21” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]). The current magnitude of Asteroid 2016 WF9 is 26.86 (JPL).

18h 35m 14s
-12° 46’ 21”
Scutum
26.86

Today's rise, transit and set times of Asteroid 2016 WF9 from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change] (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 102.8°
Max altitude: 25.8°
Azimuth: 257.2°
  • 2016 WF9 is above the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change].
  • Right now it is placed in the South-South-East direction at an altitude of 22° above the horizon.
  • Given its current magnitude, 2016 WF9 is visible only through long exposure photography.
  • Go to interactive sky chart

If you need to access this information frequently for your observations, you can create a simple customized Quick Access page, so that you can easily bookmark it in your browser favorites or add a shortcut to your mobile phones' home screen.

Available Resources

Asteroid 2016 WF9 Position and Finder Charts

Below we provide Asteroid 2016 WF9 finder charts showing where the object is right now in the sky with respect to the brightest stars. The first finder chart has a field of view of 50 degrees, while the second one has a field of view of 10 degrees. Click on each finder chart to access a full screen interactive Online Planetarium.

Map showing Asteroid 2016 WF9 in Scutum on March, 29 2023
Field of view: 50x30 degrees
View fullscreen
Map showing Asteroid 2016 WF9 in Scutum on March, 29 2023
Field of view: 10x6 degrees
View fullscreen
 = visible to the naked eye
 = binocular, brighter than 10th magnitude
= current altitude ≥ 30°   = current altitude < 30°   = below the horizon
Location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]

Higher precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Asteroid 2016 WF9 is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

2016 WF9
RA: 18h 35m 14s
Dec: -12° 46’ 21”
Deep sky finder chart for Asteroid 2016 WF9
Field of view: 60x40 arcmins
View fullscreen

Also check out Where is Asteroid 2016 WF9?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Asteroid 2016 WF9 in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Asteroid 2016 WF9 Distance from Earth

The distance of Asteroid 2016 WF9 from Earth is currently 582,002,788 kilometers, equivalent to 3.890448 Astronomical Units. Light takes 32 minutes and 21.3523 seconds to travel from Asteroid 2016 WF9 and arrive to us.

582,002,788
3.890448
32 minutes and 21.3523 seconds

The following chart shows the distance of Asteroid 2016 WF9 from Earth as a function of time. In the chart the distance data is measured in Astronomical Units and sampled with an interval of 1 day.

Chart of the distance of Asteroid 2016 WF9 from Earth in Astronomical Units (au)

The value of the reported distance might be somewhat inaccurate around the times of closest approach for objects passing extremely close to Earth. The value of the distance of 2016 WF9 from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.

Closest Approach of Asteroid 2016 WF9 to Earth

Between 1 January 2013 and 30 December 2100, the closest approach of Asteroid 2016 WF9 to Earth happens on Sun Dec 31 2045 at a distance of 0.139344 Astronomical Units, or 20,845,598 kilometers:

Sun Dec 31 2045
20,845,598
0.139344

NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.

Asteroid 2016 WF9 Brightness

The current visual magnitude of Asteroid 2016 WF9 is 26.86.

26.86

The following chart is the predicted light curve (visual magnitude as a function of time) of Asteroid 2016 WF9, according to the most recent ephemerides data. Magnitude data is sampled with a 2 days interval and there might be inaccuracies for objects changing brightness very rapidly during the course of a few days. For comets there could be large discrepancies between the observed and predicted brightness because of their highly dynamic behaviour.

Chart of the magnitude of Asteroid 2016 WF9 as a function of time

Asteroid 2016 WF9 Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of Asteroid 2016 WF9 at epoch 24 February 2023 00:00 UTC (JD: 2460000.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.66431299
Orbit inclination i 15.16506404°
Perihelion distance q 0.95701442 AU
143,167,320 km
Aphelion distance Q 4.74481140 AU
709,813,684 km
Semi-major axis a 2.85091291 AU
426,490,502 km
Orbital period period 4.8138 years
1,758.2246 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp 2021-Dec-09 05:48:46
2,459,557.7422 JD
Next perihelion transit 2026-Oct-02 11:12
2,461,315.9668 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 342.87609607269°
Longitude of the ascending node node 125.18086260908°
Mean anomaly M 90.655544046444°
Mean motion n 0.20475200°/day

Visualization of Asteroid 2016 WF9 Orbit

This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Asteroid 2016 WF9 with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Asteroid 2016 WF9 and the planets along their orbits in this diagram accurately represents the current configuration of the objects in the Solar System. This is an experimental feature and it requires a WebGL enabled browser. Please provide us feedback!

Orbit Diagram of Asteroid 2016 WF9
View Asteroid 2016 WF9 in the 3D Solar System Simulator

Asteroid 2016 WF9 15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Asteroid 2016 WF9 computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Click on each row of the table to locate Asteroid 2016 WF9 in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.

Date Right AscensionR.A. DeclinationDec. MagnitudeMag Constellation
2023 Mar 22 18h 32m 52s -12° 59’ 35” 26.89 Scutum
2023 Mar 23 18h 33m 14s -12° 57’ 45” 26.88 Scutum
2023 Mar 24 18h 33m 35s -12° 55’ 54” 26.88 Scutum
2023 Mar 25 18h 33m 56s -12° 54’ 02” 26.87 Scutum
2023 Mar 26 18h 34m 17s -12° 52’ 13” 26.87 Scutum
2023 Mar 27 18h 34m 36s -12° 50’ 21” 26.87 Scutum
2023 Mar 28 18h 34m 54s -12° 48’ 30” 26.86 Scutum
2023 Mar 29 18h 35m 11s -12° 46’ 40” 26.86 Scutum
2023 Mar 30 18h 35m 27s -12° 44’ 48” 26.85 Scutum
2023 Mar 31 18h 35m 43s -12° 42’ 59” 26.85 Scutum
2023 Apr 01 18h 35m 57s -12° 41’ 08” 26.84 Scutum
2023 Apr 02 18h 36m 10s -12° 39’ 20” 26.84 Scutum
2023 Apr 03 18h 36m 23s -12° 37’ 29” 26.83 Scutum
2023 Apr 04 18h 36m 33s -12° 35’ 42” 26.83 Scutum