2016 MA
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	19 Sep 2026	31.7	1.941 AU	2.916 AU	11h08m	+08°51'	11.4°	5.9°

The interactive orbit chart above shows the body's path through the solar system and its position at the given date. Green and blue lines are shown perpendicular to the ecliptic plane: Green if the path is above the ecliptic plane, blue if it is below. (Left-click and drag to rotate the view; Right-click and drag to move the view; Use scroll wheel to zoom in our out.)

The orbital elements of 2016 MA are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.3759990
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 1.4832150
            i (Inclination)                 : 5.06081
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 92.14623
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 223.17032
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 171.51972
            Epoch                           : 2026 Jun 09

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 135.20489
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : -3.46005
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 1.81            
        

The light curve chart below shows the estimated development of the minor planet's magnitude.

The all-sky chart below shows the path of the minor planet over the same period as the light curve. The current position is marked yellow.

The following chart shows the path of the minor planet in the next few days. The field of view is optimized for (~10x50) binoculars and finderscopes.

Ephemerides:

Date       Time       RA (2000)    DEC (2000)    delta   radius  elong  phase   PA    magn
2026-09-19 00:00 UT   11 08 44.0   +08 51 23     2.916    1.941   11.4    5.9   308   31.7 
2026-09-19 08:34 UT   11 09 26.6   +08 47 09     2.914    1.940   11.5    5.9   308   31.7 
2026-09-20 00:00 UT   11 10 43.3   +08 39 29     2.911    1.938   11.8    6.1   308   31.7 
2026-09-21 00:00 UT   11 12 42.6   +08 27 33     2.906    1.936   12.2    6.3   307   31.7 
2026-09-22 00:00 UT   11 14 42.1   +08 15 34     2.901    1.934   12.7    6.5   307   31.7 
2026-09-23 00:00 UT   11 16 41.6   +08 03 33     2.895    1.931   13.1    6.8   307   31.7 
2026-09-24 00:00 UT   11 18 41.3   +07 51 29     2.890    1.929   13.5    7.0   306   31.7 
2026-09-25 00:00 UT   11 20 41.0   +07 39 23     2.885    1.926   14.0    7.2   306   31.8 
2026-09-26 00:00 UT   11 22 40.8   +07 27 15     2.879    1.924   14.4    7.5   306   31.8 
2026-09-27 00:00 UT   11 24 40.8   +07 15 05     2.873    1.921   14.8    7.7   305   31.8 
2026-09-28 00:00 UT   11 26 40.8   +07 02 52     2.867    1.919   15.3    7.9   305   31.8 
2026-09-29 00:00 UT   11 28 41.0   +06 50 37     2.861    1.916   15.7    8.1   305   31.8 
2026-09-30 00:00 UT   11 30 41.4   +06 38 20     2.855    1.914   16.1    8.4   304   31.8 
2026-10-01 00:00 UT   11 32 41.8   +06 26 01     2.849    1.911   16.6    8.6   304   31.8 
2026-10-02 00:00 UT   11 34 42.5   +06 13 39     2.843    1.908   17.0    8.8   304   31.8 
2026-10-03 00:00 UT   11 36 43.2   +06 01 16     2.837    1.906   17.5    9.1   304   31.8 
2026-10-04 00:00 UT   11 38 44.1   +05 48 50     2.830    1.903   17.9    9.3   303   31.8 

    Terminology:
            
    delta:  distance between minor planet and earth in AU
    radius: distance between minor planet and sun in AU
    magn:   magnitude (brightness) estimate    
    ra:     right ascension in hours (24h = 360deg)
    dec:    declination in degrees
    elong:  elongation in degrees (angle sun-earth-minor planet)    
    phase:  phase angle in degrees (angle sun-minor planet-earth)        
    AU:     Astronomical Unit (mean distance between earth and sun: 149597870.7 km
    

Orbital elements provided by the MPC (Minor Planet Center).
Calculations by a modified version of AAPlus, a C# implementation of the AA+ project by PJ Naughter from the algorithms presented in the book "Astronomical Algorithms" by Jean Meeus.
NGC2000 dso catalog and star labels from VizieR as provided by the Strasbourg astronomical Data Center.
Tycho2 catalog from the ESO archive.